Lines in the Sand
by Shinymonkey8
Summary: After finally escaping from Giovanni, Mewtwo has a chance to live his life free, and sadly alone... But when fate leads him to something he would have never expected, a female of his own species, his life is turned upside-down...  Mewtwo x OC  Complete!
1. Prologue

Welcome! I'm glad you found this fanfiction of mine, and I hope you take the time to read through the story I have created. This is the prologue. It skips around on the timeline a bit so PM me if you're confused, or have any questions.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I am doing this for free, and I have no money for you to take anyway.

Enjoy the prologue!

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter: Prologue

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_Open your eyes._

When she heard the voice in her head, the eternal blackness finally faded as she lifted her eyelids.

The first thing she saw was death.

The moment after she heard the gunshot, she turned her head to stare at the woman being struck by the bullet and collapsing.

She could sense that this was the presence she had felt for so long, the only comforting warmth in her short existence she had known.

She looked back at the man who had shot the woman, now dying, lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He had now slowly turned the gun so it was facing her.

He was somewhat surprised at the amethyst eyes gazing in an unknown emotion back at him. Shock maybe? "Hmm. You're awake earlier than expected." No matter. He had to finish this.

With an evil grin, he then uttered the words, "Your turn."

_No._

She felt anger welling up in her like a bomb on the brink of explosion, It was overpowering all the other emotions: confusion, terror, shock, welling up inside. She had to avenge the woman she had somehow known. Without thinking, she felt a surge of power exit her body and blast into the man, sending him careening into the wall behind. She heard the cracking of bones and the clank of the handgun hitting the cold, hard ground. The man hit the floor and screamed out in pain, looking up at her in horror.

He could barely speak through the pain and shock. "No... it's... not possible! You just awoke!"

Another surge of power exited her body, resulting in the man, again, crumpling up against the wall with another scream of pain. He was now fighting for consciousness, staring at those same amethyst eyes with unchanging emotion; although this time he could see an underlying sense of anger in them. Somehow he managed to whisper through his pain, "No…"

Not knowing how, she then sent a wave of the energy through the helpless man's head. It snapped back and hit the wall, knocking the man immediately unconscious.

She stared at the man for well over a minute, emotions running wild.

_Where am I?_

_Who am I?_

_How did I just do that?_

_Who is this man?_

With too many questions to even comprehend thinking about, she decided on looking around first. She was in a large container, slowly draining of an amber liquid on to broken glass scattered across the floor. Most likely it was broken from the blasts of energy she had somehow emitted, but how could that have come from her?

_How do I even know I'm a "she?"_

She looked up. She was in a dark room with what looked like electrical equipment and computers, _how did she know what they were called? _Tubes were running along the ground up to her container. She realized that some of the tubes running up the container were inserted into her body. Her instinct was to quickly pull the tube out, which was attached to a needle. _What was it putting into my body?_

On shaky legs, she slowly took a step out of the container and made a small hop to the ground, making sure to avoid any glass she could hurt herself on. Her damp, light coating of fur was dripping liquid onto the floor, making an eerie 'drip' sound as she looked around again, noticing how small the room was. It only had room for a computer and a mass of other electrical equipment on one wall, desks and file cabinets on the other two walls, and a door leading to the outside on the last wall. She and the container were in the middle. The colors were very bland, mostly gray and black from the shadows of the room. There was some white coming from the floor, made of some type of marble. There wasn't very much light in the room for the white floor to reflect. With further inspection, she found that the only light was emanating from the electrical equipment and the light from the window on the door leading outside. This was enough to see, and she took a few steps toward the door.

She was still struggling understanding how she knew the names to everything and how she could even have this thought process going. She then thought back to what she could remember had happened before she awoke, if anything.

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One week earlier

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It was dark.

No, there were colors. What were these colors? Red? The colors kept changing, blue, green. What did these colors mean?

A voice rang out through her world of black and colors, "and how are you doing today?"

The woman, looking at the creature in the container of amber liquid, scolded herself. "Bah, you can't hear me, your still weeks away from when you're supposed to awake. I don't even know why I'm talking to you right now... I guess I'm just lonely. That bastard Giovanni is getting more and more suspicious over what I am doing all this time I'm gone. If he ever finds out what I'm doing he'll snap for sure. I've even heard stories of him killing rebellious rockets… Am I ranting again? Sorry about that. I just have no one else to talk to!"

She looked at the sleeping creature and sighed.

_What am I doing?_

_What will I do when it awakes?_

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Two and a half months earlier

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The man named Giovanni strode through the entrance to the main laboratory. He stopped, frozen at what he saw.

"Why the hell is there _two of them?"_

The man Giovanni's voice was directed at quickly spun around, facing the intimidating Team Rocket boss.

"I didn't authorize the creation of _two Mewtwos!"_

"Sir, I can explain—"

"Well you'd better explain quickly!"

The other few scientists in the lab had stopped and were staring at them.

Flustered, the lead scientist explained, "Well, we had all the necessary... erm... 'supplies,' and equipment to make two of them, so we made a male and a female. They are both coming along quite nicely. Their features are fully recognizable at this point. I personally don't see any reason we shouldn't make two—"

"A male, _and _a female?" Giovanni interrupted.

"… Yes… I thought it would be the optimal choice so we can study the anatomy of both genders, see which one is strongest. Our machines are picking up some interesting brainwave patterns coming from them; they are not near developed enough yet to have telekinetic powers, we will need to teach them that when they wake; but it seems that they can recognize each other's presence. I don't think their brains are developed enough yet to remember any type of mental communication they could have, but it's nice to see at least some communication. "

Giovanni looked up at the two baby Mewtwos, suspended in the containers.

"Dr. Fuji. Do you know why I only _wanted one?" _He calmly said, still staring at the creatures.

The scientist backed away slightly, almost inconcievably, "Umm, no sir—"

"What do you think would happen if there was only two of your species, opposite genders?"

The scientist just stared at him with confused eyes. That couldn't possibly be what he meant…

"Well I hadn't really thought of that—"

"With the powers these Mewtwos will have, a rebellion would be _so easy_. If they developed any kind of caring feelings for each other, the chance of it happening would increase by _tenfold!_"

The scientist looked down at the ground.

"I can't take any chances Fuji, I'm sure you understand," Giovanni said, still trying to make eye contact.

"I understand sir…"

He actually did understand, even though this would mean abandoning valuable information. The creatures would be extremely powerful, and any rebellion could be very dangerous.

"I'm just glad we caught this problem before the creatures were old enough to remember anything."

The other scientists had started to get back to work. All but one woman. She was an average height, brunette. She was staring away from the conversing men, seemingly toward nothing, with some sort of sad glaze in her eyes.

"Well everything else looks good Fuji. Get rid of one of them. I want to see only one when I come back tomorrow. The next time you decide to go against my orders, don't expect me to be so lenient."

The scientist and the woman looked up, wide eyed for just a moment. Fuji then took on a look of defeat.

"Yes sir."

Giovanni stood there for a few more seconds, examining the cloned pokemon. The one on the left, the male by the looks of it, was a very light shade of violet, almost white, on everything but its stomach and lower torso. It was colored a deeper shade of purple in those areas. The deep purple continued through the creature's legs until it hit the rather long tail, which also took the same color. It was still very small and curled up in a ball, so it was hard to examine any detailed features. He could see a strange tube running from the base of the back of the neck into the creatures head. He guessed it was to help blood get to the brain.

The female clone was identical to the male, save only a few things. It was more smoothly formed and sleek; a more rounded body. It was not the most obvious difference but it was perceivable. It was also colored slightly differently. The upper torso, arms, and head were completely white, while the stomach and tail were a faded, light violet, lighter than the male's color.

As Giovanni turned away and strutted out of the main lab, the main scientist, Dr. Fuji sighed. "Well I guess I'll take care of this then…"

"Wait," the woman spoke up, seemingly jolted from her trance of thoughts. She glanced back at Giovanni, then looking back at Fuji, "I'll take care of it. You've done enough work for one day." She wasn't making eye contact with him.

Fuji looked at her strangely. "Okay, thanks. Hmm…" He paused, looking over the two Mewtwos, "just take the female. Giovanni would want the stronger one for his plans and the male is already showing signs of having increased psychic capabilities."

The woman nodded, looked at the container with the female and sighed. She slowly pushed at it towards the entrance and winced as she heard the squealing of the rusty wheels. Without a word she exited the lab.

When she got to her destination, she looked at the creature inside again. So small, so innocent. With a determined, but wary composure, she continued past the door labeled "Waste—Caution: Hazardous Materials" and turned down a long hallway, praying no one would be there.

She sighed in relief as she saw the hallway was empty. She quickly wheeled the container down to the end of the hallway and opened the last door on the left with a key. The gym was a few doors down to her right. She entered the room, warm, cozy, painted a deep red. Nothing unusual. There were some flowers scattered around the room in vases. The pushed the creature up to a wall with a table. On the table was a vase filled with roses. One of the roses was a brilliant white. She slowly pulled out the white rose with a sad frown, looking back at the container as she did so.

Suddenly, the wall seemed to slide open from an unseen crease. The girl just looked at the widening, dark gap being created with that same sad frown. The gap, now fully opened, was about 4 feet wide. It was large enough to wheel the container through.

The room on the other side was dark, and somewhat small. "I knew this place would come to some use some day," she mused, looking at the floating pokemon. She then snapped out of her sad trance and seemed to remember what she had been doing. Hurriedly, she hooked the plugs hanging from the container onto some beeping machinery around the edges of the small room.

_I hope I'm doing the right thing,_ she thought as she finished up connecting the machine.

She stepped back to look at the container, watching the closed lids of the strange, purple and white pokemon floating in the liquid.

"You're safe now…" she paused, looking away, staring at nothing, "… Lyric…"

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End of Prologue

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Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. I would appreciate if you could tell me what you think of the chapter and review!


	2. Chapter 1: History

I hope the prologue was confusing, there's a lot to explain. It will all make sense in due time so don't worry.

Contains some of Mewtwos history. Does not explain in full, so. If you're still confused, might want to read up on that.

His history is very slightly changed: I made Mewtwo be cloned by Giovanni and I made Mewtwo's outrage to the scientists when he awoke at the Team Rocket headquarters. I made it a little less catastrophic and Giovanni ends up talking him out of it right as he was going to destroy the rest of the Rocket base and kill even _more _people than he already had. Other than that it's the same.

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 1: History

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Mewtwo was alone.

Well, of course he was alone; he was the only one of his species, and a freak at that. He couldn't show his face to any human. Other pokemon… sometimes it was acceptable, and sometimes they reacted the same way humans did: they looked at him like he was swarming with fire ants, or the humans took the much, _much_ less wiser route and tried to capture him. It only got worse when he tried to communicate with his telepathic ability.

After he left Giovanni and Team Rocket, he immediately found out he was not suitable for life in the forest. Cold, dark, uncomfortable… Not the life for a genius clone of a legendary pokemon like himself. Yes, Mt. Quena, the place he fled to after escaping Giovanni, was a paradise, but it just didn't feel right to Mewtwo. Not even he understood why, he just felt more comfortable in a city-like environment.

He had fled to a bustling city: Vermillion. Not too bustling, for risk of being seen, but not too rural. It was a nice combination of tall skyscrapers downtown, along with some smaller buildings dotting the city. The air was nice, surprisingly, holding its ground against the rising number of automobiles that roamed the city, emitting gases.

The main problem in the town was crime.

While the city police force did their best, the rate of crime kept steadily increasing.

Mewtwo glared down from the top of a smaller skyscraper at two men with ski masks on. The cliché image of a robber, they ran into an obscure bank. He sighed and looked down at the end of an alley adjacent to the bank where an obvious getaway car was waiting. He sent a phychic wave towards the driver of the car, instantly knocking him out.

Not long after, he saw the two crooks run out of the bank with a plastic bag filled with what he guessed was money. He was feeling lazy today. As the men got in the car he watched slightly amused. It took ten seconds for a man to get out and open the front door to see why the driver wasn't speeding away.

Mewtwo sent another psychic wave at the car, knocking out the two men. Simultaneously, he telekinetically lifted the bag of money and put it at the entrance of the bank, just in time to see the manager walk out. Surprised, he looked in the bag. Mewtwo guessed the man had called the police. Even though he saved the manager from a lot of trouble, Mewtwo didn't have enough patience to see it through. He had done his part.

Crooks were getting worse these days… He didn't even have to move this time.

He turned away and hovered down to the ground, shadowed from the sun by the face of another skyscraper. Every time he saw any type of crime, he was reminded of his crime filled past with Team Rocket. Just thinking about it made a chill run down his back…

He had been cloned back at the laboratory for one purpose and one purpose only, to serve Giovanni. Of course, Giovanni didn't tell Mewtwo that at first, the clone could easily destroy the entire base, and he knew very well. When Mewtwo awoke, in his spite and confusion he nearly did, killing many Rockets. As Mewtwo was getting ready to send a massive psychic wave to destroy the base and everyone in it, Giovanni tricked Mewtwo into thinking that working for him would be the smarter and better thing to do, he told him that the human race is a greedy, spiteful race and doesn't deserve to live. After months and months of serving, Mewtwo was starting to question his real purpose in live. Giovanni, sick of his complaining, flat out told him: he was created by humans, to serve humans, and he would never be anything better than that.

Enraged, Mewtwo easily escaped Giovanni, destroying some of the Rocket base while he was at it. The clone fled to a place called New Island. Here, he pondered over the human race, why it even existed and what he could do to intervene. His mind, being tainted by Giovanni's lingering advice, he decided on destroying the human race entirely. Why allow something to live that was so cruel and horrible?

His plans were going smoothly until Mew, the legendary pokemon he was cloned from decided to intervene.

He battled Mew, _knowing _he was not the one at fault, and nearly succeeded. He probably would have if it wasn't for a young boy who jumped in at the last second and sacrificed his _life_ for what he believed in. Mewtwo didn't think such courage and devotion existed in _any _living being.

Through a miracle, the boy was restored, and Mewtwo's entire perspective on life was drastically changed. Sure, there was evil in the world, but why should the good have to pay for it? The clone decided on erasing the boy's and a few of his friends' memories so that he could start a new life over, at a paradise on Mt. Quena. But Giovanni, he wouldn't give up.

He led a team to capture Mewtwo. Trapped by his caring for friends who had been captured by Team Rocket, (Mewtwo had cloned them back at New Island) Mewtwo was nearly defeated. The boy who sacrificed his life showed up and somehow saved him from Giovanni. Mewtwo erased Giovanni along with all the Rockets' minds and allowed the boy and his friends to keep theirs. He fled to Vermillion and this is where he stands today.

Thinking back, he wishes he could reverse his life and make his traumatic history better. He would rather not have a history like this at all. Always running through his head, taunting him through nightmares whenever he slept (which wasn't often).

Still floating through shadows from alleys and buildings, he made his way toward where he called his temporary home. He considered teleporting back, but he needed to get some air, he had been cramped up in his home for the past week prior because of some type of advanced pokemon virus. He had been ready to explode from anger at his immune system for not being able to handle a simple virus, he, Mewtwo, the most powerful pokemon in the world. Slowly drifting through a dark alley, he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going; the route to the living space was figuratively implanted in his memory from so much repetition. He was completely lost in his history.

As he arrived, he was jolted back to the present. He took a few seconds to gaze upon his home. It was a somewhat tall, brown and tan cathedral. It had been taller but the spire had been knocked down in the gale a year and a half ago. The church goers were still in the process of raising money for a new one.

Performing a quick aura signal scan of the interior of the church, he gathered that there was some type of Sunday afternoon service going on from the clustered mass of blues and yellow\oranges of the humans auras. Auras are only detectible to psychic humans and pokemon. Every living being has one and everyone's is different; similar to snowflakes.

Not wanting to disturb the service by walking in and going up the stairs to the attic of the church in which he lived, he hastily teleported in.

The church pastor knew of Mewtwo's presence, yes. However, he accepted it, seeing as Mewtwo never disturbed anyone and never stole anything. The pastor was a very humble man.

The inside of Mewtwo's attic was quite the opposite of a mess. Mewtwo had always believed in organization, why clutter the place up just out of laziness? It seemed like a fruitless thing to waste, space. Not that Mewtwo needed it... He had very little possessions: a somewhat comfortable cot where he slept complete with a heated blanket for winter—the attic did not have a heater. He had a few shelves where he kept interesting things he found on his travels and valuable items, like a small diamond that he found deep in a cave on one of his travelings. He had a very fast computer he had modified to be able to respond to psychic commands. The internet, he had found, was a very useful tool for acquiring any type of information. Many sites, he had found, were accurate proof of the human races intelligence and understanding of the world, while other sites… He had, on more than one occasion accidentally stumbled upon one of these… _sites_… Let's just say it was not a pleasant experience for him.

He had a few more miscellaneous items scattered about the room, and to combat loneliness he had, at the moment, curled up in the corner sleeping, a Skitty. He had rescued it on one of his travels. The Skitty was being attacked by a few vicious pokemon in Pallet Town, of all places, which is very unusual seeing that almost all Skitty are found in the Hoenn region. Mewtwo couldn't remember what he was doing in Pallet Town, it seemed like and absolutely trivial place for him to be wandering at. He always cursed himself for being so warm and generous, because this was always a sign of weakness, caring for things. Look where it got him when Giovanni captured the clones he had created back at Mt. Quena.

This Skitty of Mewtwo's was no ordinary pokemon, it was unusual in a number of ways: First off, it was black. Its underbelly was a crème color but the fur on the rest of its body was black, a very,_very _unusual color for the normally pink feline pokemon. I guess this was a blessing to it seeing as it was a male.

The other reason the Skitty was unique was that he was completely deaf. From what Mewtwo had gathered, he was born perfectly normal and when he was around 3 months old, he had woken up one day, deaf. No one knew why, and sadly he was abandoned by his family because of this disability. Luckily, he had already been taught the basics for survival, and the Skitty did so until Mewtwo rescued him. From what the Skitty had told him, he was a little over 6 months old. Somehow, the Skitty and Mewtwo had instantly bonded. Well... the Skitty had bonded with Mewtwo... The clone often found the feline extremely annoying-Skitty were known for being overly playful, and Mewtwo was not the energetic type. Mewtwo still cared for the Skitty, however, there was many a time they had deep and meaningful conversations with each other.

The last and most interesting reason the Skitty was so unique was the way he communicated with Mewtwo: telepathically. Skitty have very interesting skills, one of them being Assist. With Assist, a Skitty can take on the ability of a team member or close pokemon. In this way, the Skitty, whose name was Alvar, could take on the psychic ability Mewtwo had and communicate. He could also use very basic psychic skills, like levitating a foot off the ground, but only very basic skills because the Skitty's brain was not made for anything psychical. He could also only use these psychic abilities when around Mewtwo.

Mewtwo's presence seemed to make the Skitty stir and Mewtwo stood in the middle of the room, watching him. He must have sensed his presence with the psychic skills he had taken on. The clone found it interesting: using Assist had become so second nature to the kitten that it was even used in his sleep. He was virtually a psychic pokemon. As the small, feline pokemon opened his eyes, he spotted the clone and greeted him warmly, slightly groggily, _"Oh hey Mewtwo… why are you… staring at me…?"_

"_I have just arrived Alvar, I did not mean to disturb you," _Mewtwo replied with a monotone, emotionless voice.

The kitten replied, telepathically_, "Oh no you're fine. Where were you anyway?"_

Mewtwo sighed, ready to answer a barrage of questions. Kittens were so very inquisitive. Just like all children; human or pokemon.

"_I was meditating on the Saturn Building down at the center of town. I also managed to stop another bank robbery."_

The kitten's eyes widened, _"Oh wow, did you get hurt?"_

"_No Alvar, I am fine. It was one of my most uneventful foilings of a robbery yet. Physical energy was virtually unneeded and I still achieved success with…"_

The kitten had already lost interest and was chasing its tail. A smile, while very small, managed to sneak up on Mewtwo, which was very rare. Even he was surprised at this and he began to ponder this, making his smile fade.

He turned around, without a word and began to walk toward his bed. It was still slightly light out, but Mewtwo was unusually tired... for no specific reason. _Damn that accursed virus, _he thought. _It is still affecting my strength... It additionally ruined my sleep cycle... _He was normally nocturnal, and the constant sleeping the virus brought on had messed that pattern up.

Before settling down for a much needed sleep, he turned to look at Alvar. The kitten had stopped chasing his tail and snuggled back up in the corner again to sleep. Satisfied, he got into his bed and tried going to sleep as well. After a minute of being unsuccessful, due to the thoughts he couldn't stop, he ended up staring at the ceiling. His thoughts were somewhat random, ranging from what he could have done to be more useful today, to thinking about his time working for Team Rocket, to how boring and monotonous tomorrow would most likely be. He decided he definitely needed sleep before he buried himself in a chasm of depression, and pulsed a gentle psychic wave through his body, putting him asleep.

Little did he know how eventful and life-changing the next day would be.

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End of Chapter 1

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Some of you may have noticed that Mewtwo's home is in a church, which is similar to another Mewtwo fanfiction on this site written by a friend of mine, WiseAbsol. Since Mewtwo is an Athiest, this, to me at least, is a good fitting home for him. :P

I also mentioned Mewtwo's time with Team Rocket, and while I didn't go into very much detail, another fanfiction also by WiseAbsol called "Angelic Shadows," does, and if you like this story, you will most definitely like that one. 


	3. Chapter 2: Lyric

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 2: Lyric

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As Mewtwo woke up from his shorter than usual slumber, he jolted up in bed for no apparent reason. He gently rubbed the very sensitive tube running from the base of the back of his neck to his skull. By the way it hurt, he gathered that he must have been moving around in his sleep and positioned himself for this to happen. When his wide eyes became adjusted to the dark, he wondered why he had woken up in such an awkward way. There were two reasons he could think of for this to happen: an outside disturbance, which didn't seem like a possibility after a quick glance around, or a nightmare. A nightmare definitely had the potential to make him jolt up, but why didn't he remember it, seconds after waking? He dismissed it as his mind supressing the memories from him unintentionally due to either stress, or the fact that the nightmare was so traumatic, his mind was forced to erase it. The last thought made him shudder. _I wonder what I was dreaming about that was that bad..._

Not being able to get back to sleep, he quietly got up, making sure not to wake the kitten still sleeping in the corner. He then cursed himself for even bothering... _Curses__, I always forget that Alvar is deaf. _The fact that they had normal psychic conversations on a regular basis made this an easy thing to forget.

He gazed at the cat, envious. It was still sleeping, with no worries or problems. It lived a halcyon life; it got at least 12 hours of sleep a day. Mewtwo slept much less than the average human, but he could imagine how much energy he could have with that much sleep.

_If I can stay awake all of today, I guess this will be for the better._ Waking up as early as he did had made it so he awoke at the normal time he did before the virus had taken it's toll on him. He decided on taking a walk.

It was just a spontaneous decision at the time; a 'random' thought popping into his head that he decided to act upon, taking a walk. A thought, that would have lead to absolutely nothing, if not for what fate had in store for him.

He teleported outside and made groggy glances around his perimeter for any signs of humans. It was 1 a.m. and nothing was in sight. It was also unusually quiet. The city was usually raptured by the cacophony of bars and automobiles blasting music, and a little less rarely than Mewtwo would have liked, gunshots.

The clone began walking, with no real destination planned. _What am I doing... Ah well I need the fresh air, _he thought to himself. He walked down an empty street parallel to a barren field. There were some sticks with colored markings on them, an indication of future construction. He sighed, _just what I need, more humans. _He had never been fond of humans. Most of them were selfish, greedy, and fairly powerless beings that somehow made it through natural selection unscathed, though Mewtwo couldn't see how. _They have no claws or powers, although their feats of engineering are impressive_, he mused as he passed a mind-bogglingly tall, navy blue skyscraper.

He had been aimlessly wandering for 5 minutes now, going in a direction he tried to avoid due to the clusters of people flocking to the mall nearby. It wasn't a problem right then in the middle of the night, so the clone risked it.

After another couple of minutes, he decided to turn back, having had enough pointless wandering. As he turned around to make the return trip, his eye caught sight of something. It was like when something shiny, like a CD, reflects light in your eye and you get that flash of white for a split second before it moves on. Except this was slightly different. It lasted abnormally long in his peripherals, the shine should've disappeared in a blink seeing as he was spinning around at quite a rapid rate, not giving time for the light to linger in his vision, but it lasted for over a second. It was enough to get Mewtwo's attention. He turned to look at it.

It was deep in a perpendicular alley to the street he was traveling on, one of the hundreds of the city. He walked towards it, slightly faster than normal, with a gleam of curiosity in his amethyst eyes. He could just make out a faint shadow of something lying on the ground. It looked white, some kind of label maybe? Why would it shine? As he got closer he realized it was a piece of paper. He approached it, slowing as he got near. He lifted it of the ground telekinetically, inspecting it. It was damp and slightly tattered. As he flipped the paper over he was excited to see that there was very legible lettering scribbled on the paper.

As he began to read, his eyes slowly widened at the first two words:

_Hello Mewtwo,_

_I know this will be confusing to you, but please continue to read. Everything will be explained with time. For now, it is important that you follow what this message says to the letter._

_Go to the Rocket Headquarters. On the right side of the building facing north, there is an alley with a large, green dumpster in the center. Go to it. You will find me. I truly hope you will know what to do then._

_Sincerely,_

_Lyric_

He stared at the letter for a few more seconds.

_...What... is this... How could this be possible..._

In his shock, he didn't notice the paper turning an eerie shade of translucent red.

He dropped the paper unintentionally, rapidly looking around to see if someone was pulling a prank on him, but no one knew of his existence to even do this. Alvar maybe? No, he had never done anything like this before, and it would be very unlike him. The disturbing fact was that no one awake was around for a mile. A quick aural scan confirmed this.

As he spun around to reread the letter he just realized he had dropped, he almost cried out loud.

_It had vanished._

He spun around looking for it, but it was no where to be seen. _Okay, this is most definitely a prank, _he nervously thought, but no, he had already figured that it couldn't be.

_Well what is going on then...?_

After another minute of standing in utter shock, he changed his thought process. Inconveniently, the Rocket Headquarters was far away from his current location, all the way in Viridian, however, this could easily be remedied by a simple teleport.

_No, what the hell am i thinking, going back to my rival nemesis' headquarters, from directions from a strange, vanishing letter! This could very well be a cunning plan devised by Giovanni to capture me!_

Deep down, he knew it wasn't. It was an exceptionally unusual strategy to attempt, he knew Giovanni fairly well. This is not something the Rocket boss would agree to. He would most likely take an army of Rockets down to the church and try to blow it to a billion pieces, he wouldn't stoop so low as writing a false letter, luring Mewtwo to the building. He knew the clone had more sense than that.

_Do I have more sense than that?_

Apparently not, because he teleported to the headquarters.

The maxim, _curiosity killed the cat, _kept ironically running through his mind.

It took him another minute to work up the courage to enter the small black building. It did not look like the headquarters to the biggest crime organization on the planet, but he supposed this was appropriate, seeing that they are a crime organization. A big skyscraper with the notorious red 'R' would basically be the same as having a big sign out front saying "arrest me."Almost all of the base was located underground, beneath the building that was supposedly abandoned.

The teleport had been fairly long distance, and had taken some of the energy out of him.

_What had the letter said? The alley on the right with a dumpster._

He walked to the right of the building, keeping an eye out for an alley. Sure enough, as he reached the end of the building, there was an alley, between the Rocket base and another small, brown/tan colored building. He froze in his tracks.

_What could possibly await me in that alley. If it is dangerous, I can easily fend it off._

His thoughts were cut short by an eerie howl, sounded like a Houndoom, from far away.

He mused that his nerves were slightly higher today, and made a mental note to get some extra sleep once he returned home. For all he knew, he was still dreaming.

_This is much too vivid to be a dream._

Mustering up the courage, he started toward the alley entrance. As he reached it, he reluctantly peered into the darkness of the gap between the buildings. There was the garbage dumpster. Green, like in the letter, but that was all.

Except for a collapsed, scattered pile of cardboard tucked into a corner of the dumpster, partially covered by a pale blue, furry blanket that looked like it had been mauled by raccoons. The collapsed cardboard went nearly all of the way up the dumpster, and it resembled nothing, maybe the home of some unfortunate homeless human. But, it was enough space to conceal a person.

"_Damn it," _he muttered as he started toward the pile.

He took a hold the pile of cardboard with his powers and slid it away from the dumpster slowly, the blanket dragging along behind.

A figure was revealed: a pale, emaciated, light purple and white creature, lying unconscious on the ground, huddled up against the dumpster.

It was a female.

_Of his own species._

:::::::

End of Chapter 1

:::::::


	4. Chapter 3: The Discovery

:::::::

Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 3: The Discovery

:::::::

_DIARY_

_10/23_

_Giovanni announce_d _a new project today. Apparently we're supposed to clone a pokemon from some random eyelash they found on an archaeological expedition. I guess it belongs to some rare, powerful pokemon. I can't recall the name of the pokemon right now, I'll get back to that._

_10/25_

_Okay, so the pokemon we are cloning is called Mew. Dr. Fuji decided on cloning two of the pokemon so we can better study the new species, which will be called Mewtwo. We built the containment units yesterday and they seem to be looking pretty good, tomorrow we will start the cloning process. Hopefully everything goes okay._

_10/28_

_Good news, the deoxyribonucleic transplant was a success, and the embryos have began to grow. I can't see any reason these clones should fail so far. The female was slightly tougher to clone, we had to manually extract the Y chromosome and add another X to it's DNA, a long and tedious process. Dr. Fuji's new electron microscope surprisingly worked very well and everything turned out okay._

_12/05_

_An update for the clones: their features have just begun to show, and there are already signs of psychic activity in their brains. It's a very good sign! I know this sounds crazy, but me and a few of my coworkers are starting to get attached to the little things. We haven't heard from Giovanni in weeks, hopefully he wont just abandon this project._

_12/23_

_Giovanni came in today. He threw a fit and ordered Fuji to get rid of one of them. Just as Fuji was going to take the female, I stepped in and said I'd do the dirty work. I don't know what I was thinking... I had grown so attached to it I couldn't just let it die! I brought it down to my quarters and hooked it up to my equipment in the lab I had tucked back in there, secret. Luckily, I had been researching cloning techniques so my equipment was properly modified to handle the clone. I'm almost positive that no one suspects anything yet. I'm staring at the clone right now actually, writing this. It looks so peaceful... I think I did the right thing._

1/17

_The clones are almost 3 months old, with about 2 months left of development. They're both coming along great. I'm a little nervous, Giovanni has been eyeing me_ _strangely, I wonder if he suspects anything. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I have been completely isolated from the others during my free-time_, _working on Lyric. Oh, I decided to name her Lyric, after my best friend's daughter. Her daughter died a few months ago, about the time the project started. I was so busy I couldn't even go to the funeral._ _Anyways... I still don't know why I'm doing this..._

1/25

_A short update: Fuji has been working on chips with banks of information on them. Apparently when applied to the clones, it will give them basic knowledge_ _of how the world works, what things are called, the language, things like that. This will save a ton of time not having to teach them once they awake._

2/17

_Okay, this is really not good, I'm sure Giovanni suspects something. When I came back from the lab yesterday, it looked like my quarters was ransacked! Nothing was stolen, it looks like they, or he, was searching for something. I suspect Giovanni searching for Lyric. Luckily they didn't find my lab... I don't know whether I should go talk to Giovanni or... I don't know what to do..._

_3/03_

_The clones should be waking up sometime next week. They are fully formed, no problems arose the entire development. My apartment was ransacked another 2 times since my last entry. It's a miracle that they haven't found my lab. Its like they searched everywhere but my vase of roses. If they ever found her, they'd kill her for sure, maybe they'd kill me, if not, fire me. I can't back out of my decision now, I care too much for Lyric..._

:::::::

_10 minutes after the murder_

:::::::

She stared at the door. It was dark outside and she couldn't see anything out the window. What awaited her outside that door? Was a human going to try and kill her? The human she had knocked out was in the same place as where she had left him, crumpled against the wall. It had been 10 minutes since he had murdered her, lying on the floor next to him still in an ever-growing pool of blood. He was still unconscious... That was not a good sign, it usually signified brain damage. _Well good riddance! He tried to murder me!_

_I should probably do something about them before they wake up, _she thought. The man... she could just drag him in the hallway outside of the quarters. If he stayed unconscious for another 20 minutes, there was a very high chance of amnesia. Very severe amnesia at that. If luck was with her, he would not remember her at all! She could only hope...

The woman however... The clone still had a feeling of caring for the dead woman, she could feel her eyes beginning to grow moist, staring at the woman. She wished she knew the entire story of what had happened to the woman she cared for. All she had were blurred memories of colors and darkness. Why did she care for the woman like she did?

After another few minutes of pondering, she got to work, dragging the unconscious man out of the quarters and down the hall. The walls were a creme color, lined with a dirty, crinkled floral wall paper. There was no one in sight, everyone must be sleeping. She cautiously picked up the gun, still on the floor of the quarters, and put it back in the man's pocket. Then, she dragged him down the hall a bit further to a completely different area of the building before she turned back to the woman. The clone put her in the closet, unable to think of a better place.

When she was finished, she went back into the quarters. She stopped, staring at the pool of blood, now partially dried, on the floor. She couldn't stay in here, it would drive her mad! She couldn't explore the rest of the building, she would most likely get caught! Her only choice was to go outside and face the unknown...

After sliding shut the door to the secret lab behind her, she approached the door and reached for the handle, turning it and pulling it open.

:::::::

As Giovanni opened his eyes, he was more confused than he had been in his entire life.

"Where the hell... am I?"

He had a mind-numbing headache and his chest felt like it was on fire. He reached up and rubbed it, flinching as he did so. It felt like he had a few broken ribs. _But how the hell..._

As he looked around he realized he was in one of the living quarters, block D, if he remembered the color scheme right.

_Well that's a good sign, I can remember the color scheme..._

He got up shakily and wobbled down the hall. It was about half a mile to his office. He needed to visit the doctor first...

As he got to the current Rocket physicians quarters, he banged on the door, not caring if he woke anyone.

"Johnson! Johnson open up, its an emergency!"

He banged on the door a few more times. About ten seconds later, a short, unshaven man in his pajamas opened the door with wide, but groggy eyes.

"Giovanni... what's wrong?"

"I have no idea," he replied, "that's why I'm here."

"Well what happened?"

"I just woke up in a random block... I think I have a few broken ribs..."

"You don't know how you got to the block?"

"I haven't a clue..."

The doctor turned into his quarters, "Well come on in."

He splashed some water on his face. "There's a number of possible explanations for your condition."

Giovanni slowly stepped inside, tending to his injuries.

"First off, you could have had a stroke. That would explain your memory loss, but it wouldn't explain how you can still walk and talk..."

Giovanni sat in a chair and looked up at the doctor, who was rummaging through some bags.

"Another possibility would be a seizure, that could be it. You must have broken these ribs while thrashing around on the ground."

He pulled out some gauze and antiseptic and began wrapping the Rocket boss's wounds.

"You could've had an aneurysm... That would also explain it. It would have to have been a mild one, but it explains everything. Or... you could've been attacked in your sleep... I really do not know Giovanni."

As he finished wrapping Giovanni, the doctor sat down, "How much do you remember, Giovanni?

Giovanni looked at him, confused, "Ummm..."

The doctor quickly added, "What's the last thing you remember doing, say... a mission."

Giovanni's eyes widened, "I remember sending Domino to the Pokemon center to steal Pokeballs. We were running low..."

The doctor looked at him grimly.

Giovanni looked back, worried, "What?"

"That was over 6 months ago, Giovanni... Are you sure you don't remember anything else?"

Giovanni's face conveyed a hint of fear, and some sadness, "No... I don't."

"Do you remember the clones at all?" the doctor inquired with a glimpse of hope.

"Clones?"

"Yes the clones of Mew. Well, clone. You got rid of the other one. You ordered a team of scientists to make a very powerful replica of the rare pokemon Mew. They have been working on the Mewtwo for almost 5 months now. The clones should awake sometime this week, if I remember right."

Giovanni looked down, "A clone of Mew you say, that sounds excellent. I could use an extremely powerful pokemon in many of my missions!" He let out a small chuckle.

The doctor looked up, amused. "Now that's the Giovanni I remember."

Giovanni rapidly swung his head up to look at the doctor, instantly furious, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

The doctor quickly avoided eye contact, immediately realizing his mistake, "Oh, I didn't mean anything, sir-"

"Ah, just shut up. I need to get some fresh air."

Giovanni got up, stretching his wounded chest.

"Thank you Johnson."

"Anytime sir," he replied, looking somewhat satisfied.

Giovanni then walked out the door, feeling slightly better about his injuries and about himself.

_Now to check up on this so called Mewtwo,_ he thought to himself.

Thinking better, he corrected, _but first I need some sleep._

:::::::

The male Mewtwo, a few days from waking, was still lost in the blackness.

:::::::

Giovanni entered the main lab the next morning. It was occupied by a few scientists, monitoring some large electrical machines hooked up to the container in the middle of the room. He walked up to one of the scientists.

"So is this the Mewtwo?"

The scientist jumped, "Oh, Giovanni!" He looked confused, "Yes... That's him. He should be waking any day now."

Giovanni, finding no need to tell him about the memory loss, turned around to stare at the clone and asked, "Where are all the other scientists?"

"Well there is only one missing, I don't know where she is, might be sick. She lives in the D block if you want to go find her."

"Thank you, carry on," he finished.

"Yes sir."

Giovanni began the long walk to the D block. It was hard on his injuries, but the night's sleep seemed to have work wonders as he was feeling much better. As he arrived, he banged on the door in a similar manner as he did at the doctor's quarters.

"Open up!"

After a minute of no replies, he tried the door. To his surprise, it was open. He stepped inside and flipped on the lights. He froze as he saw a dried up pool of blood on the floor. Upon further inspection he found a trail leading up to a closet in the corner of the room. He pulled out his gun and grabbed the handle, being overly cautious. He yanked the closet door open and jumped back as a body flopped out.

She was dead.

The rest of the day was a frenzy of forensic inspections. They couldn't find any fingerprints or evidence. The only evidence that could have been found were the fingerprints on Giovanni's gun, and they were already smudged by his handling earlier. Giovanni, in the pandemonium, practically forgot about his memory loss. The inspection was called off after a day with no results. It only was, after all, a lowly scientist. Scientists had little more status than the grunts.

The next day, the corpse was buried in a nearby cemetery and the crime organization Team Rocket continued on with their normal operations.

There wasn't even a funeral.

:::::::

End of Chapter 3

:::::::

Thanks to: **Stormrifle and Grievous Girl18 **for reviewing the last few chapters.

Hopefully this chapter answered some of the questions you might have had.

Reviews are very appreciated!


	5. Chapter 4: Trauma

:::::::

Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 4: Trauma

:::::::

Lyric stood at the doorway, the door swung wide open. She waited until her violet eyes adjusted to the light to begin moving. When they finally did, she still didn't. She was paralyzed in fear.

She had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

She had no defenses, no knowledge of anything past basics. _She didn't even know her own name._

The clone finally worked up the courage to take a step out the doorway and look around. She was standing in a very dark alley. She could barely see the color of the building in front of her, it was brown. The building she had just come from was black. She could hear Pokemon howling in the distance and cars driving by on roads near the alley. What if they were coming for her?

Upon further inspection, she saw, to the left, a wooden crate and a few other miscellaneous pieces of wood. She shut the door to the lab behind her and slowly walked toward the crate. When she reached it, she found it was just an empty box. It had a few sharp nails in it. Just some random human dumping their trash in an alley. When she looked further to the right, all she could see was darkness, due to it being the middle of the night. So she looked left. Her eyes widened as she saw something large and green. The clone stood there for a moment, wondering what the object was.

_It looks like a large, green box_, she thought to herself.

Convinced that she would not ease her curiosity without inspecting it closer, she started towards it, cautiously. She had gotten to within a few feet of the object when she finally realized what it was. It was a garbage dumpster.

_Of course, a dumpster. There's probably a dumpster in almost every alley around here._

She scolded herself for being so overly cautious. The dumpster was a dark shade of green, with some yellow stripes going across and around the corners. It was about five feet across. Sniffing, she couldn't smell any odors, so she guessed it had recently been emptied. She then looked down at some writing she saw on a tag stuck to the dumpster. Intrigued, the clone began to read. It amazed her how she could understand what was written on the tag.

How can I read?

The tag said something about the company that manufactured the dumpster, mentioning that it was created in Viridian Waste Disposal. Another tag had some kind of warning to not get inside the dumpster. Why anyone would do this she did not know.

Satisfied, she looked on the right side of the dumpster to see if there were any more tags she could read. There was nothing except a few spider webs.

She started for the other side when she heard another howl. This one seemed a lot closer and made the clone jump. Her heartbeat going a thousand miles per hour, she rapidly swung around, checking behind her for any signs of enemies. There was nothing.

Letting out the breath she had held in, she released a long sigh. She was very tense. Well she had good reason to be she supposed. She had been nearly murdered in her first few seconds of life and she had almost killed a man in the few seconds after.

_How did I do that anyway? I sent out some kind of wave from my body... I wasn't really even thinking..._

That part of her memory had already begun to blur, it was like her mind wanted to block it out from her forever. She tried to produce the same wave, holding her breath and clenching her fists and eyes. It was to no use, the clone had no idea what she was doing.

After another minute of trying, she gave up, suddenly remembering the other side of the dumpster she had not examined. Just then, she heard some voices coming from far away. She froze, once again her heart rate skyrocketing. Listening to the voices, she could make out a few words, but it was mostly muffled.

The voices were getting closer.

As she realized this, she panicked. She didn't know what she should do, so she kept the same position. Her panic was kept only in her mind as an onslaught of opportunities swept through her mind. She could run, but where would she run? She had no idea of where she was. She could hide, but she didn't have anywhere to hide. Behind the dumpster maybe?

As her concentration was focused on these opportunities, the clone didn't notice that the voices were getting ever closer.

She was jolted back to reality as they turned the corner of the alley. She was horrified.

The voices had stopped talking for a moment.

"Dude, do you see that?" one of the voices, a female said. It was about thirty feet away.

"What?" another voice said, a male, turning his head to see the terrified, violet figure.

Lyric was paralyzed, watching the two humans, all thoughts gone from her head. She managed to examine the humans, if only for a second, before her brain was also blank with fear. The female was wearing a faded red shirt and blue jeans and the male was wearing similar attire except that he was wearing a black shirt with some sort of writing on the front. It didn't matter now.

_It's too late. They've seen me. They're going to kill me._

"What the fuck _is_ that thing?" the male said, starting to walk towards the clone.

Lyric, finally cured of her paralysis, began to slowly back away from the two humans.

"Well don't scare it off," the woman grabbed the male, "I think it's some kind of Pokemon, it looks like nothing I've ever seen."

Lyric was still, very slowly, backing away.

"Well lets fucking capture it!"

Lyric, not watching where she was going, still in a fit of terror, tripped over the crate. She fell backwards and landed on her tail, _hard_. The clone let out a cry of pain and turned her body so her sensitive tail was not pressured by her entire body weight.

"C'mon! It's down, we can weaken it and capture it!" the male yelled, starting to run toward Lyric.

"Wait–" The woman tried stopping the man, but sighed and ran after him.

"You don't even have any of your damn Pokemon!" she called after him.

Now only a few strides away from the once again paralyzed from fear Lyric, the man replied, "Look how helpless it is! I can weaken it without Pokemon!"

Lyric scrambled backwards, not being able to lift herself up.

As the male arrived, the female close behind, he stepped up to Lyric, looming over her, and kicked her hard in the side.

The female sighed. "You are so..." She shook her head in disgust.

Lyric wheezed, the wind knocked out of her. Reeling in pain, she managed to open her eyes only to see the man kick her in the side again, harder.

This went on for what seemed like hours, even if it was only minutes. She hadn't known what real pain was like until now.

The clone curled up into a ball to protect herself from the devastating blows.

"Oh come on you've beat it up enough already," the woman said, standing behind the man in a slouched stance, as he continued kicking the strange, white and purple Pokemon.

"Shut up and help me weaken it!" replied the man, with a sick thrill in his eye.

As another blow landed, this time on the clones arm, the woman heard a snap.

"Oh... I think I broke it's arm," the male said, stepping slightly backwards, a small amount of fear penetrating in his eyes.

The woman just stared in horror. "Great..."

Lyrics arm had indeed been broken, and the pain only flared up even more. It was like dipping her arm in a vat of molten lead. The arm had been broken completely in two, making it flop to the side, limp. The fear in the mans eyes seemed to fade as he heard Lyric scream out in pain again.

"Alright that's weak enough."

She didn't think the pain could get much worse than this.

Just then, Lyric heard another sharp crack through the pain and the haze of near unconsciousness. At first she thought it was another one of her own bones breaking, but then she heard a loud thud. She partially opened her bruised eye to see the man lying on the ground, bleeding from a large gash on his head, unconscious. At first she thought the woman had done it, it was hard to think through the excruciating pain she was in, but those suspicions vanished as she heard the woman scream.

"Wha-!" Her exclamation was interrupted by another sharp crack, followed by another thud.

She was lying unconscious on the ground.

Fading in and out of reality, Lyric managed to get a glimpse at a face staring down at her–

before she faded out of consciousness.

:::::::

_She had her first dream._

_There was a field. Everything was perfect. No more pain, no more worry or sorrow. This was paradise. As she looked around, she could see nothing but snow-capped mountains surrounding her, but the mountains emanated not a capturing essence, but a protecting one. Nothing could harm her here._

_The grass was a deep green, the most beautiful shade of green you can imagine. It felt heavenly against her skin, like angels, caressing with the most gentle of touches. A soft wind was blowing through the field. It was the perfect temperature, and everything was right._

_But it all ended._

_She blinked._

_The moment her eyes reopened, the field had turned into a shade of hell._

_All the grass, now a horrible charred black, was burning, fire covering the entire field. The stench of sulfur filled her lungs, burning them._

_The pain was back._

_Memories flooded the banks of her mind, memories of the woman she cared for, being shot, over and over again._

_The sorrow was back._

_She could see the mountains in the distance burn and crumble as giant balls of fire rained from the black-orange sky, destroying everything around. All there was: fire, and burning._

_Yet she could not die, the pain could not go away._

_This would last forever._

:::::::

She jolted awake. It was still dark.

The first thing she noticed was her arm throbbing, along with the rest of her body. It felt as she was still on fire.

Then she noticed the place she was sleeping in was enclosed. As her eyes adjusted, she saw and felt that she was covered by a pale blue, tattered blanket.

This was way too much to take in. Where was she?

She needed to get up, but her body would not allow it. So she relaxed again, thinking back to her most recent memories, before the nightmare, which was already fading. As the memories of her beating returned, she couldn't help but gasp.

_That man, he hurt me... But, what–_

Then she remembered the cracking she had heard, and the thud of both the humans hitting the ground. This memory made her want to get up and look for the person who saved her, but she thought better of it and repressed the urge. She was in no condition to be walking.

She looked down at her broken arm and was surprised to see a brown fabric wrapped around it, acting like a cast. Someone had set her broken arm...

From the looks of it, it was still nighttime, although she couldn't really tell, the small space she was in was completely closed off from the outside except from a small opening in the corner, which didn't let in any light. It was big enough for a person to crawl through, however. Looking at the walls, she noticed that they looked a lot like cardboard, but it was dark, so she couldn't be sure.

The exhausted, confused clone decided to rest more, ignoring the searing pain and closing her eyes. Graciously having a dreamless sleep.

:::::::

The next time she awoke was to a small nudging of her good arm. She didn't want to open her eyes, the dreamless sleep was too good, too perfect. No worries or pain, it was just nothing. However, as the nudging continued, her brain decided to shut back on and she slowly awoke, eyes still closed.

_Who was nudging her?_

Her eyes flew open and she screamed at the sight of an old man.

Well, he looked old. His hair and long beard were completely white and gray, but his face was kind, gentle, with compassion emanating from his eyes. He had on a white, tattered shirt, and tattered pants. The shirt was badly stained all over, as well as the pants. He wore no shoes or socks, and his entire body was covered in filth, like he hadn't showered in months. She looked away from the old man, who looked very surprised at her outburst. She looked at the opening in the corner, which now glowed, radiating sunlight. It must be morning. The old man's hands were in the air, as if to show he wasn't armed. She knew he would hurt her any second now, after all, that's what humans did, hurt her. So she curled up into a ball and closed her eyes.

When nothing happened for several seconds, the clone opened her eyes again. The old man was still staring at her, slightly confused, yet slightly interested. They both stayed like that for another half a minute, until the old man finally shuffled. There was just enough room for him to stand up, and he was fairly short. There wouldn't be room for her to stand up, if she ever did again.

Why wasn't the man talking at all? He didn't make a sound. As if reading her thoughts, the old man pointed at his throat and shook his head. He then imitated speaking by putting his hand to his mouth, still shaking his head, and moving his hand back and forth, like the sound waves leaving his throat.

She thought to herself, s_o... he's either sick with some sort of throat problem, or he's mute..._

Then the man seemed like he remembered something, and turned around, crawled out the hole, and left her.

After about ten seconds, the man entered, and it looked like he was holding something large. When the man settled down next to her, not too close, the clone saw that it was a small, portable white board.

By the way the man carried it, it looked like it was his most valuable possession.

In his other hand, the man carried a black marker, and a small, black rectangular thing that Lyric guessed was an eraser.

After showing it to her to prove that it wasn't a weapon, he uncapped the marker and began to draw something on the board.

He finished, and turned the white board to face Lyric.

It said, in neat, large letters:

HELLO

Lyric looked at the board, understanding the greeting. The man just looked at Lyric, as if saying, "do you understand?"

He than erased the words and was about to write something else.

She worked up some courage and reached out to the board with her good arm before he did. The old man, confused at her gesture, slowly gave the marker and the white board to her, cautiously.

She looked at the white board, and messily, but legibly, wrote, as the old man's eyes widened:

HELLO

:::::::

End of Chapter 4

:::::::


	6. Chapter 5: Communication

Yay for another new chapter!

Note: if its underlined, that means its written on the white board.

:::::::

Title: Lines in the Sand

Artist: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 5: Communication

:::::::

Mewtwo looked down at the unconscious form of the female of his own species, in utter disbelief. This went against everything he understood, everything he _thought _he knew.

_How is this possible? She must have been cloned, but when and where? Either that, or… No, that's the only possibility. She was cloned. Who else besides Team Rocket has cloning capabilities?_

No organization that he knew of was as technologically advanced and powerful as Team Rocket.

_But, that would mean she was created while I still served Team Rocket… It has only been a little over a month since my escape from Mt. Quena; it takes months to clone a Mewtwo. Unless she was created before me…_

He had no answers, and he realized he wasn't going to get any unless he got a chance to talk to her. She wasn't in the best of shape.

She was very similar to his own colors, except she was lighter. One could tell she was a female by the curvature and flow of her body, she was also slightly smaller. Her aura was very faint, in an again, slightly lighter hue than his.

After scanning her again, he realized, although emaciated, she was very beautiful.

Mewtwo sighed; he didn't have time to even scold himself for being so primal. He was surprised and disgusted at himself. He thought he had buried those feelings deep down, never to be seen again. _This is a special circumstance, a female of my species… Damn it to hell! _He cursed himself. She was probably the only other one of his species and she was probably dying as he stood here, ogling her.

_I should take her back to my home… _he thought. _I could care for her and interrogate her when she wakes, this opportunity is way too important to just let go. I need to find out how, and by whom she was created._

It had to be better than wherever she was living at the moment. She might even have been living right here for all he knew…

With his mind made up, the male clone gently picked up the surprisingly light female. She hanged limp in his arms. In a flash of white light, they were both gone. Teleported back to Mewtwo's home. The cold dark alley was now empty; the wind howling through the crevice between the buildings, making an eerie, ghostly sound.

:::::::

_8 months earlier_

The old man stared at the seemingly simple 5-letter word written on the white board. This word, however, was a very significant 5-letter word.

_This pokemon knew how to write…_

The strange looking pokemon just stared back at his amazed, awestruck expression. She looked slightly confused, as if wondering why he was so amazed.

It wasn't unheard of, a pokemon learning to write. It was however, very unusual. Languages are usually too complicated for pokemon minds to comprehend. This completely changed his plans, they could actually communicate…

Unless that was the only word she knew…

He finally took the board back, and not being able to think of anything better, wrote:

You can write?

Understanding, she took back the board and wrote:

Yes.

They kept going back and forth like this:

How can you write?

I don't know. 

The old man stared at the pokemon. How could she not know? He had so many questions, so he wrote a list of them, hoping she would understand, starting in the top left corner:

What are you doing in this alley?

What kind of pokemon are you?

How old are you?

Did you come from the Rocket Base?

Do you have a name I could call you by?

She looked surprised by the onslaught of questions but she answered each one truthfully:

I don't know.

I don't know.

I awoke yesterday.

I don't know what that is.

I don't know my name. 

The old man looked disappointedly at the 5 lackluster answers. None of them made any sense whatsoever. The third answer confused him the most, however.

_Yesterday? How is that possible?_

These answers just created more questions. He settled on one, not wanting to overwhelm the pokemon, and took a moment to write. Finished, he then showed the pokemon the board with the near pristine penmanship:

Where did you come from? 

I was in a lab, and I stepped outside into the alley with the green dumpster. Then I got beat up by some humans.

The man's eyes instantly widened when he saw the words 'green dumpster.' If she stepped out of the building adjacent to the alley with the green dumpster, the dumpster she was leaning against right now, then she had come from the Team Rocket base. Things could be very bad for him.

Do you work for Team Rocket? The building you came from is their headquarters.

No, I woke up in that lab yesterday. I have no other memories. 

They must have erased her memories. Why would they erase a pokemon's memories?

Do you have a place to live?

No.

The old man's eyes slightly softened. That meant he would care for her if she would allow it. It would be nice having the company. He would have to be careful though, she could be an agent of the Rockets.

_Rockets sending a pokemon? To capture _him? It was unheard of.

Have you eaten?

No, I am very hungry.

The man realized she must not have eaten since she had woken up. He reached for a corner of the enclosement they were sitting in, and grabbed a stale piece of bread from a plastic tray. He handed her the bread.

Eat this, it will nourish you.

:::::::

As she eyed the disgusting looking piece of bread, she couldn't help but think it was poisoned. Why shouldn't it be? This old man was the first human who had not tried to harm her. He had asked the clone a flurry of questions, practically none of them she knew the answers too. The man did seem genuinely curious and compassionate, and eying the slice of bread made her stomach growl.

She snatched the piece and gobbled it down hungrily, wincing at the taste of mold. Her stomach pains had subsided, however. She closed her eyes, waiting for the burning to begin in her stomach.

But it didn't happen.

The old man looked slightly amused by her show of terrible manners, and took another piece of bread from the corner. He nibbled on it slowly, seemingly savoring the horrible taste.

He ate in silence for a few more minutes. Lyric couldn't understand how he could make a small slice of bread like the one he was holding last so long.

She felt grateful to the old man, just finishing up his bread, for giving her part of his small food supply. She had no idea why she had told him so much about her short life. How could she trust this old man? There was just something about him that was just so… compassionate. Caring. She couldn't explain it, so she wrote:

Thank you.

The man smiled.

You are welcome. 

Where am I?

The old man's smile faded. He had asked his questions, it was now her turn.

You are in my shelter. We are still in the same alley as where you were beaten up.

She looked very surprised, had he been the one…

Did you save me?

I disposed of the thugs and tended to your wounds, so yes, I suppose I did. 

She gave a small smile, the first he had seen since she had woken up. He returned the smile.

Are you mute?

Yes, I was in an accident many years ago. It left me not able to talk. 

She had just noticed the scar across his neck. She shivered, not wanting to think about the pain he had endured to acquire it.

Are you homeless?

The man's smile instantly faded. His current financial situation was not something he was comfortable talking about. It's not like the pokemon had any clue though, she had probably had a much worse past than he had.

Yes, I am. My life has been very difficult and I ended up here.

He had tried to explain it so that he didn't have to tell the truth, and the pokemon looked satisfied. She wouldn't understand anyway, she was just a pokemon, wasn't she? He wasn't even sure if this pokemon was a female.

I am not certain, are you a female?

This got a confused look from Lyric. Was she a female? She knew the meaning of the word, but she did not know whether she was male or female. The man seemed to think she was, so she went with it.

I think so.

The old man chuckled at this. Why was that so funny?

It seemed like he was satisfied, having accrued enough information for one session. He motioned for her to follow him and started for the hole in the corner of the shelter. She instantly froze up, shaking her head.

The man mouthed, 'it's okay,' and motioned for Lyric to follow again.

She shook her head again and carefully crossed her arms. That was a good sign; she could move her injured arm.

She had no idea what was outside the shelter, the last time she was out there she had nearly died! There was no way she would go out there again anytime soon.

The man sighed and picked up the board.

I am going to teach you how to get your own food. If I ever disappear, you need to know how.

That was eerie. He wrote it as he was going to disappear soon, like he was expecting someone to finally catch up with him and kill him. She looked at him strangely.

It took the old man another few minutes, but he finally convinced her to crawl outside, where it was nice and sunny. The alley was much less ominous in the daylight. There was no one around. She squinted, the sun hurting her eyes, and looked towards the man. Then she realized he was standing at the base of a dumpster. _The green dumpster._ The old man's shelter was on the side of the dumpster she had not explored. Looking at the shelter made her cringe, it was made of tattered cardboard with a light tarp over the top to protect from the weather. It seemed unusually sturdy, however.

The man banged on the dumpster, making a loud clanking sound to get her attention. It worked, and Lyric turned to the man, slightly confused. The old man pointed to his eyes.

_Watch._

He began to climb up onto the dumpster. It was taller than he was, so he had to get a foothold on a jutting piece coming off. As he reached the top, he flipped himself over and the clone heard him land in the dumpster. She was surprised at his acrobatic ability, he didn't seem like the type of person who was athletic, he looked at least 70…

_Gross… _she thought. _Why would he have to teach me this? I can do this myself…_

She had to admit, however, that she would have never thought of getting food out of the dumpster. She guessed it was their only option. They both would be turned down at any place where food was available. It didn't help at all that they both couldn't talk.

That last thought made her wonder… _Can I talk? _She had never tried to use her physical voice before; her common sense told her that humans couldn't understand the pokemon language anyways. She didn't look like any pokemon she could picture in her mind. It was strange, she could think of hundreds of pokemon that she'd never seen before. Maybe she was different.

With the old man still rummaging in the dumpster, she opened her mouth and tried to speak, using the never before used, dusty vocal chords.

All that came out was a weak, "Mew."

_Mew?_

Pokemon only spoke using the name of the species… Mew was a legendary pokemon, supposedly one of the oldest and rarest pokemon ever… That meant that she… was a _Mew?_

This was a stunning development. She had just found out that she was one of the rarest pokemon in the world. There are not really words to describe the feelings that come along with this type of epiphany. Nothing like this has ever happened before.

The man finally crawled out of the dumpster and slowly lowered himself to the ground. He had a small bag that seemed to be filled to the brim. She hadn't noticed that he had carried the bag with him when he climbed into the dumpster. He smiled at Lyric as he reached the asphalt ground, and set the bag on the floor, motioning like it was her turn.

She instantly shook her head in big semicircles; there was _no way _she was getting in there…

The old man sighed, seeming to know the clone would not change her mind. She walked back into the shelter while the man stood there, his eyes following her. As she crawled in, she heard the man climbing back into the dumpster.

_Today must be food-gathering day or something, _she thought.

Lulled by the sound of the man rummaging through the trash in the dumpster she was leaning against, she slowly fell into an again, dreamless sleep.

:::::::

End of Chapter 5

:::::::


	7. Chapter 6: Struggle

I found a few things that could be confusing, just wanted to clear them up if anyone is confused.

Lyric is **not a Mew. **She is a Mewtwo. She thinks she's a Mew because of her physical voice. Mewtwo have Mew voices for obvious reasons. They're not going to run around saying 'Mewtwo.' That would be retarded.

The reason she knows all the pokemon names, what they look like and all the names to things is explained in chapter four in the diary section. Fuji invented a chip which implanted basic knowledge into the clones, so they wouldn't have to teach them when they woke up. I probably should have been more specific about this.

Also, Lyric is a fully grown, fully developed mewtwo; didn't want anyone getting a wrong picture in their head about that.

Hope this clears things up! If there's any other questions feel free to pm me. I want to make this as clear as possible. Here's chapter 6.

:::::::

Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 6: Struggle

:::::::

It had been an entire month.

The month had gone by rather quickly, which was a blessing, seeing as the days were very dull. There was nothing to do. Lyric found her favorite days were when the old man told her stories about the Earth's past. Things that were not in her previous knowledge. She had learned a lot from the man, so she felt guilty for not being able to teach him anything. He seemed to know a lot anyway.

The old man was still very confused about her history, and still slightly suspicious, that feeling would probably never go away. Lyric was just as confused, and she was angry that she didn't know her own history. He was also confused about why the pokemon didn't have any elemental powers whatsoever.

She had shown him her voice, and told him that she thought she was a Mew. The man seemed adamant that she was not a Mew, apparently knowing what Mews look like. He was bewildered about why her physical voice was 'Mew,' and so was Lyric.

The only exception to pokemon having their voice being anything but their species name is found in a few legendary pokemon, along with very few others, he wrote.

Which others? She wrote back.

Oh, pretty much all the legendary pokemon: Celebi, Jirachi, Mew, all those poke—

She yanked the board from him.

Maybe I'm related to a Mew!

The man looked at her doubtfully.

I don't think so, Mews use telepathy along with their physical voice, and you look nothing like a Mew anyways. Although you are somewhat feline.

Lyric sighed; she didn't have telepathy, did she? She had to have some type of elemental power! Almost all pokemon did!

Wait a minute… She did have powers… How had she knocked that man unconscious back at the lab? That must have been her powers, now hidden deep inside.

She wrote eagerly:

Is there any way you can teach me powers?

She looked at him hopefully. He chuckled slightly.

No, and there's very few humans who could. Maybe psychic humans. The teaching of powers is usually done by a pokemon's parents, and it comes rather naturally to most pokemon. 

_Why doesn't it come naturally to me? I've been awake for over a month now! _

Since she was cloned, this didn't apply to her, and although she didn't know this, she would've been trained by a Team Rocket psychic if she was still in their possession. It would have come fairly naturally to her if she was given specific directions of what to do.

_Why could I only use my powers right when I woke up?_

She could barely remember what it felt like to use the powers; the events of that night were all just a big haze. On a better note, her arm was practically fully healed, she seemed to heal faster than humans, but it was still a hindrance.

_I'm completely defenseless, and I'm weak. I need to learn a power! All pokemon have one! And I'm a pokemon…_

She cursed, wishing again to know more about her past. It would answer so many of her questions. There was no hope about finding anything more, was there? Maybe at the lab where she woke up… Whenever she left the shelter for outside, she could see the door leading to it. Sadly, she had never left the alley, in fear and confusion of what was in the unknown. The man had written that he too, didn't know what the outside world looked like anymore, he had been gone for so long. He never left the alley either except for rare occasions which he didn't tell her about. He left for a few hours some nights.

It was a sad, boring life, but it was all the clone had ever known, so she learned to live with it.

:::::::

Another month passed.

It was the same thing every day, the man would leave for a few hours constantly now, Lyric was getting agitated that he would not tell her where he was going, but the old man was unchanging. They would have conversations, he still was teaching her things, but the teaching times were getting less and less. It saddened her, she had enjoyed those times.

She had started to enjoy some games that they played together, games on the white board, which was now getting very smudged and beat up from overuse. She hadn't noticed the marker ever running out, which was strange. He kept it with him all the time, maybe that's what his trips were about.

As his trips kept getting longer and longer, she got lonelier and lonelier. If she ever even brought up the topic, the man would be furious and they would not talk for the rest of the day. It was very strange of him; the old man was normally friendly and compassionate. This made her even more furious, he had no right to keep things from her, and she had told him everything. It was rather difficult to argue without being able to talk, so she just buried these feelings inside her.

She was having horrible nightmares almost every night.

:::::::

More months passed, she couldn't remember how many.

She contracted some sort of virus on the third month. It was amazing that she hadn't gotten a virus any earlier; she had been eating semi-rotten food and living in terrible conditions. The clone's immune system must have been exceptionally strong. She got over it after a week, amazingly. She stared at the water she drank, in a bowl, dirty. The man gathers water in his small tarp whenever it rains, (which is a lot in Vermillion) and they both drink the water from that. It was disgusting, but it was how to live.

One day when Lyric woke up, the man was gone. This had happened many times in the past, but it was still disconcerting.

As the day went by, and night fell, however, she began to get a sense of fear. The longest he had ever been gone was about 8 hours. He had always come back by nightfall, often looking very weary, and one time even having a large cut across his arm.

Another day past. Still no sign of the old man. The food supply in the corner was running low; the man had always taken care of that. She was beginning to think that the man would never come back; he had been gone for a week now. Her loneliness and depression were at an all time high, she often spent nights crying herself to sleep.

:::::::

After another week, she finally got the courage up to do something. It was the bravest thing Lyric had ever done.

She would go back to the lab.

The clone was sure she could find answers to the questions that were tormenting her.

When night finally fell and when she thought she was ready, she crawled out of the shelter and made for the lab doorway. It was only about 15 feet away, haunting her this entire time. She stood at the foot of the door, staring at it.

_I have to do this. I have to know the answers. _

She slowly opened the unlocked door.

As she saw the inside of the secret lab, a wave of old memories washed over her.

_The body in the closet… Is it still there? The man…_

But no, everything was the same, except for the puddle of blood was gone from the floor. Had someone come in and cleaned it up? Had anyone discovered the body?

For the first time, she wondered why hadn't the man come back for her. She thought back to knocking him out, remembering he had hit his head pretty hard. Then she got another small fragment of memory. She partially remembered entering his mind for a moment. How could she ever do that?

_Did I erase his memory?_

He had hit his head pretty hard too, so it could've been that.

Focusing back on the task at hand, she looked around the room. It was exactly as she remembered it, gray and dark. She thought of where she could get any information on herself. She looked around the room for some file cabinets, there were none.

Then she eyed the computer. That had to be it! Computers stored loads of information! She briskly walked to the computer and flipped it on, pacing impatiently for it to boot up. She had a basic knowledge of computers; the mouse over to the side of the computer was what one uses to control it with, if her knowledge was correct.

_How do I have a basic knowledge of computers! Did I have a life before waking up? Damn it!_

She needed to find out _now._

The computer finally finished booting up, and she scanned the desktop for anything pertaining to her.

_What pertains to me?_

She saw a file labeled 'My computer.' She clicked on it, hoping to find something useful. It was just a bunch of gibberish to her. She clicked out of it and scanned again.

There was a folder labeled 'Diary.'

_This could be it… _she thought.

She opened it and began to read. As the contents of the diary worked their way into Lyrics mind, her eyes widened in sudden realization.

_Lyric! My name is Lyric! And I'm part of a species called Mewtwo!_

It felt wonderful to finally have an identity, but as the other content started to make sense, her eyes got even wider, in horror.

_I'm a clone? But… how? What…_

As she reread the second diary entry, she noticed the words, 'two clones.'

_There's another one of my species? So I'm not the only one…_

As she read more, she realized that this must be the dead woman's diary. It all made sense… As the rest of the horrible story of her near extermination, the braveness of the woman to secretly care for her, and the suspicions of Giovanni unfolded, she could only keep reading, entrapped in the story.

Another thing had caught her eye. The information chips that Fuji had been working on. They must have transferred all that basic information to her mind.

_So that's how I know all these things! It makes so much more sense!_

She also read something that mentioned the psychic ability of Mewtwos.

_So I can use my powers! I'm a psychic pokemon… Why can't I use them now?_

She had no idea how, that's why.

She read to the end and shivered at the sight of the abrupt ending. She knew what had happened after that. That man… His name was Giovanni. He had been the one who murdered the woman and had almost murdered her. He had found out about the woman's secret somehow, and _killed _her. How a man could be that cruel and heartless stunned Lyric. A small flame of rage began to burn inside of her—rage for Giovanni. It was his fault that she had to live like she did for all these past months. If not for him, she probably could have lived happily in secret with the woman she cared for.

She flipped the computer off, angry, still not satisfied. She was thinking about that other Mewtwo, where was he? It had been long enough that he had awoken, many times over. He had to be out there somewhere…

She was also pondering what this building was. The old man had once mentioned a name: Team Rocket… That's what this place was. She then realized that she would not be going back to that accursed shelter just yet. She started for the door.

Surprised by her bravery, yet steadfast, she slid open the door to the woman's quarters. She remembered knocking Giovanni through this door luckily, and she had dragged him down the hallway. The quarters looked exactly the same, as if no one had been in here since she had left.

_I wonder what happened to that man, Giovanni…?_

She approached the door to the hallway, very warily. She couldn't hear or see anyone, so she slowly opened the door. There was no one in sight.

_I can't get caught._

She kept repeating that to herself, like a mantra. Who knows what they would do to her if they caught her…

_Maybe I should turn back…_

But no, she had come this far. What would she do if she turned back? Sit in the shelter and die of sheer loneliness? No, she had to act.

No one seemed to be here at all. Maybe everyone was sleeping, it was nighttime after all…

_Well that's a good thing, _she thought to herself.

After another minute of walking, she came across a big door with a window. The door was labeled: 'GYM'.

She made sure she could not be seen through the window. It was a dead end; the gym must be how to get to all the other sections of the headquarters. Curiosity got the best of her again as she peeked her head out of the window to see what she could see.

What she saw through the window was the biggest shock yet.

The gym was very orange, and there were bleachers on either side, filled with people watching some commotion in the center. Lyric looked to the center. There was a human standing in front of a pokemon on one side of the gym. Seeing the pokemon made her eyes widen. It was the first one she'd seen except for some Rattata hanging around back at the shelter. The pokemon in the center of the gym was very large and looked like a water pokemon. It was very strange, like a mix between two. It seemed to be in battle against another pokemon on the opposite side of the gym. The other pokemon was hard to see because it was moving so fast. It looked like it was clad in some type of unwieldy armor.

_Wait… Is it flying?_

Yes, the armored pokemon had begun flying around the gym, over the enraged water pokemon, dodging water blasts as he flew. Lyric just stared as the water pokemon started to float too! The expression on its face, however, changed to terror, as it flew backwards into the gym wall, hard.

The hybrid water pokemon was knocked to the ground, instantly unconscious, and the other armor-clad pokemon touched down to the ground.

_Had it done that? Whatever it did, that is one very, very powerful pokemon…_

The people in the stands started clapping, and a man came up to the creature, standing next to it, talking to it. She couldn't see the man's face; his back was turned away from her.

Having a better chance to examine the armored pokemon, her eyes widened as she saw the creatures tail.

It was exactly the same as hers.

Besides his hands, feet, and arms, its tail was the only part of its body that wasn't covered in armor. She couldn't see any expressions on its face.

_But, this pokemon has the exact same tail as me!_

A realization came over her:

_Maybe this is the other Mewtwo the diary spoke of…_

Her suspicions were confirmed as the pokemon hastily removed his helmet and rested it on its chest. It was a Mewtwo, a very powerful Mewtwo. If that Mewtwo had this power, did that mean that she did?

_I don't have time to ponder this, _she scolded herself.

Although she was ashamed to admit, the first thought that came to her head when she saw the other Mewtwo… _His _face was… well… how _handsome _he was.

_What the hell_?

She had never even pondered these types of feelings before, and she was disgusted at herself, and slightly surprised that she even _had _these types of feelings; but mostly disgusted. The feelings didn't even make sense... There weren't any other of her species to compare him with, was there?

The female clone quickly dismissed the thought when she felt something.

It wasn't something physical; she felt it in her… _mind…_

It gave her a sense of extreme discontent, unsatisfaction, depression, even loneliness.

_What is this?_

Somehow, she could sense that it was coming from the other Mewtwo. Maybe he's broadcasting this, he is a psychic pokemon… But…

_How can I hear it?_

_Because… I'm a psychic pokemon…_

It made sense; she knew for sure now that she had some hidden psychic powers deep inside, she just didn't know how to use them. Also, why would that other Mewtwo be broadcasting its feelings?

Lyric's thoughts were interrupted as she saw two men walking toward the door she was peeking out of. Instantly terrified, she turned around and ran, finding the nearest place to hide. She saw a corner and rapidly veered around it, ducking out of view just as the men opened the door and started to walk down the hall she had just run through.

She pressed herself against the perpendicular wall and prayed,

_Please don't turn this corner… Please don't see me…_

Thankfully, they continued on and turned the _next _corner.

_That was way too close…_

_:::::::_

The next day, she couldn't stop herself from going back. She waited until nighttime again and entered. This time the adventure was a lot less eventful-no one was in the gym. She did manage to hear something about an 'escape,' to some place called, 'Mt. Quena,' from some men wandering through the halls. The words didn't mean anything to her, but she filed the information away for later use.

The next few days she went back, there was no one there. It's like everyone vanished. On the third day of no one being there, she promised herself she wouldn't come back, but she did.

The fourth day, everyone was back, but everyone she saw was acting very strange, kind of confused. She overheard some men having conversations:

"We were _in the middle of the freaking mountains _completely lost, having no idea where we were or how we got there. We had to call in choppers to get us. Boy was Giovanni pissed. He looked just as confused as everyone else though!"

_Giovanni… So he is alive. _

After overhearing a few more conversations, most of them similar, she decided to turn back for the shelter. She'd heard enough. None of it made any sense whatsoever, no reason to continue listening. She was getting quite good at hiding and camouflaging herself so she wouldn't get caught.

She didn't see any more of the other Mewtwo, which saddened her.

:::::::

One day, when she was numbly eating the last of the food supply, thinking about how horrible her trip outside to gather more food was going to be and waiting for nightfall so she could go back into the Rocket headquarters '_one last time'_, a very loud, clanking noise almost made her jump through the roof of the shelter. There hadn't been any more disturbances since the two thugs had showed up the night she awoke surprisingly. Maybe the man's trips had something to do with that, too.

The terrified clone cowered in the corner, hearing the noise, which sounded like some kind of machine moving closer. Despite of her increased bravery, it was a déjà vu of that night she had been beat up, and she was having terrible flashbacks. Fully fledged fear had come back to haunt her.

The noise grew even closer, until it seemed like it was right outside the shelter. It finally stopped, and she let out a sigh of relief, but only for a moment. Another noise sounded, and in another moment the clone heard a loud clank which sent strong vibrations into the dumpster she was leaning on, cowering.

She quickly scrambled away, almost screaming, as the dumpster began to _slide up._

Now on the other side, she watched as the light streamed in from under the lifted dumpster, now a foot off the ground and rising. She realized that the shelter might fall over if the dumpster was completely removed, so right before it did, she put a paw on a top corner.

The dumpster had been lifted all the way, she was completely exposed. It was a very strange sight, half of the home she had become so used to had now disappeared, and she was left holding it up, slightly feeling the strain of it resting on her paw.

She heard another noise, something like the trash from the dumpster emptying into another container.

Then the revelation hit her, this was a _dump truck! _It had come to empty the dumpster! Immediately, she wondered:

_How will I get food now? All the food is gone…_

Another noise, the dumpster was being lowered down. She sighed in relief; she wouldn't have to hold the shelter up anymore. But her eyes widened in horror as she saw the dumpster set down on the ground about two feet farther away from the shelter as it had originally been.

The rest of the day and part of the next was spent holding up the shelter, in fear of it collapsing if the clone let go. If it did collapse, that would be a catastrophe… She didn't know how to rebuild it!

_What do I know how to do?_

Her arms burned with fatigue, she was weak from thirst and hunger. Her back hurt from sitting up so much. She couldn't just let the shelter collapse! She regrets even holding the damn thing up in the first place, she should've just gotten this over with. The clone felt as if she would die if that happened, she didn't know why. She probably would too. With no shelter, there was a good chance of death. Even if the shelter did not collapse somehow, she would still most likely collapse of exhaustion, even loneliness someday, it was inevitable. What made this worse was the fact that she had contracted another virus in the few days before this incident. She was already very weak, but that symptom seemed to be the full extent of the virus.

After a few more hours of this, she realized she would continue to hold the shelter up until she collapsed of exhaustion. Maybe someone would come and fix it from the outside? The clone knew it was highly unlikely; no one had been around for months.

She was already beginning to grow dizzy.

More hours passed.

If she collapsed right now, she knew she would most likely die from dehydration; she had not had any liquids in a day and a half. She was terrified, and began to shake.

She felt her arms giving out and struggled to keep the shelter up.

_I can't give up now, my life depends on it!_

But she felt herself begin to slip into unconsciousness. As she struggled to keep her eyes open, she managed to get one final thought before her arms gave way and the shelter collapsed, falling on top of her:

_I'm sorry…_

She didn't know who she was sorry to, maybe the old man, who she had become such good friends with over the past months, even if he kept his secrets. The only person who had ever cared for her. Maybe to the woman who had died in front of her, the woman she had such a strong, unknown bond to.

Maybe to herself.

But nothing mattered anymore, she had failed. She would die here, abandoned, confused. Not ever having a real purpose in her life. There wasn't even a reason to live anymore, the man was gone, and he probably abandoned her.

With that thought in mind, she felt the cardboard ceiling cave in on top of her. As the dust cleared, she was buried under the flimsy cardboard shelter, unconscious.

Lyric would die alone.

:::::::

End of Chapter 6

:::::::

Thanks to **Draconic Skysong **and **Aku yoru no sakana **for the review, I really appreciate it!

I hope you all continue reading, and reviews are always appreciated!


	8. Chapter 7: Confrontation

:::::::

Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 7: Confrontation

:::::::

In another flash of white light, Mewtwo was back at his home. The strange sound the teleporting made immediately woke up the Skitty sleeping in the corner. His eyes slowly opening, he groggily greeted him.

"_Oh, hey M—"_

His voice caught in the back of his throat as he saw what confused, but exited Mewtwo had in his arms.

"Wh—is that…"

He had seen the limp body of _another _Mewtwo, hanging limply in the arms of Mewtwo. The limp body looked starved, and quite shockingly, looked _female._

Alvar had had more than one conversation with Mewtwo about his past, and he had been rather stubborn, but in the Skitty's persistence, he finally got Mewtwo to open up. He knew he was a clone, and he _thought _he knew Mewtwo was the only one of his species. _Had Mewtwo lied?_

Mewtwo just stared at the female in his arms.

"_Mewtwo, who is that…"_

He finally took his eyes off the female, _"I—I don't know…"_

The kitten had never seen the male Mewtwo so distraught and confused before, even though he had only known him for a little over 2 months.

"_Well, please explain when you have the time…" _He could tell now was not the time to be asking questions.

Mewtwo nodded and set the fragile female on his bed, gently. She smelled horrible, like a sewer, but Mewtwo didn't seem to notice. He was pacing, completely lost for words. He had no idea what to do.

He stopped pacing for a moment to examine the other Mewtwo.

The fine, light fur she had was completely matted with dirt, almost like she had been rolling in mud. Her face was weak and frail. It was strikingly similar to his own face, but it was noticeably feminine. The Skitty was seemingly doing the same thing as Mewtwo, also noticing the similarities.

"_How is this possible," _the normally energetic Skitty couldn't stop at least that question from exiting his mouth; "_you said you were the only one…"_

"_I believed so as well. I am just as confused as you Alvar…"_ he said with that same confused, but some how excited tone.

The kitten was about to ask where he found her when Mewtwo took a damp cloth from out of nowher, and dabbed at the burning forehead of the female. This seemed to help, as she began to stir. Mewtwo's eyes widened, and he stared at hers, expecting them to open.

But they didn't, and Mewtwo and Alvar sat there for hours, nervously, but excitedly watching over the unconscious female. Mewtwo spent the time pacing back and forth, his tail lashing through the air. Alvar, not used to sitting still for so long, had gone and touched the female's hand, which in turn had made Mewtwo _freak out. _Mewtwo needed sleep; the extreme emotional drain had taken its toll on him. When he finally calmed down, the Skitty offered to watch over her while he slept, but Mewtwo refused.

"_I must be here when she wakes up."_

The Skitty didn't ask why. He guessed that another reason he wouldn't let him watch over her was because he thought Alvar might touch her again. _What was wrong with touching her, _the kitten thought_._ Mewtwo had kept the damp cloth on the female's forehead, rewetting it periodically. It had seemed to keep the fever that she apparently had down. When he finished with the cloth, he began pacing again, his tail still flicking through the air.

The Skitty did have a lot of unanswered questions, like how she got unconscious, why she looked so starved, questions like that. But he didn't ask them. He had a feeling by the way Mewtwo acted that he didn't have any of the answers.

The two conscious pokemon's conversations were limited; the tension in the room was palpable. It continued on like this for a few more hours. The female's breathing did seem to get less shallow and erratic, like she was finally exiting a nightmare. That was about the time she started to wake.

She let in a sudden sharp breath, and her eyes flew open.

Her eyes… were _so beautiful. _

All of Mewtwo's worry and confusion disappeared for a small moment as he saw her eyes for the first time. Her amethyst eyes, the same color as his, were the epitome of beauty, but not physical beauty. It wasn't emotional beauty or any other type either. He couldn't explain it.

As Alvar saw Mewtwo's stunned, amazed look, watching the female's eyes open, he was sad to see the evanescence of his bliss, his numbness to feeling. All that happiness and ecstacy had faded away. He saw Mewtwo realize what was happening, that the female Mewtwo was awakening, and he saw as they were both thrust back in to reality.

:::::::

As the amethyst eyes of the female slowly gained comprehension of her surroundings, the first thing she saw was another pair of amethyst eyes. At first, she thought she was looking into a mirror. As the last of the drowsiness faded she saw how she was verywrong.

Lyric stared up at Mewtwo; they both had unreadable expressions on their faces, too many emotions to count. Mewtwo unknowingly backed away very slowly, keeping his gaze on her, paralyzed in emotion. It wasn't very different for Alvar, except the shock in having everything he believed in turn to dust wasn't present.

It was a moment of silence.

The next chapter in their lives had started.

The first thing to break the silence of the emotions running silently wild, was the bed squeaking as Lyric slowly and cautiously sat up. Mewtwo gave her a little more space, and still remained silent.

The first and seemingly most appropriate words were spoken by Mewtwo, finally coming out of his stupor.

"_Are you feeling alright?"_

Lyric made a microscopic jolt backwards, surprised by the psychic voice she could hear, coming from the other of her species. It took her until now to put the pieces together, but this must have been the _other Mewtwo…_

Mewtwo noticed the microscopic jolt, and his eyes widened in confusion in horror. _Had he said something wrong?_

Lyric turned and looked at the small, feline pokemon, staring at her from the foot of the bed. The feline, not knowing what to think at the sudden eye-contact, quickly turned to stare at Mewtwo. She looked at the room she was in. It was a cozy, tidy room, void of a plethora of items. A computer, a few shelves, a bed… Various random items for sustaining life, such as food and bottles of water.

_This must be where he lives, _she thought.

Mewtwo accidentally read her thoughts.

When reading thoughts, usually it is easy for a psychic if the thought is very loud. If the psychic doesn't want to hear the thoughts of others, it can just set a weak barrier up in its own mind so the memories cannot be detected. It becomes second nature to a psychic… hearing thoughts becomes quite annoying and unneeded most of the time. The barrier only goes down when completely relaxed, or at other times…

For some reason, this was one of those other times, probably because sustaining a psychic barrier to block out others' thoughts was the last thing he could be thinking of right now.

As he heard the thought coming from the female Mewtwo's mind, he couldn't stop himself from answering.

"_Yes, this is where I have made my home."_

Lyric looked back up at Mewtwo, surprised he had read her thoughts. Mewtwo looked embarrassed, as if he hadn't meant to respond, but it had just come out.

Not wanting to stay in the awkwardness, he walked towards a shelf in his room and grabbed an apple and a water bottle. He walked back to the bed and handed the items to Lyric.

"_Are you hungry or thirsty?" _

Without a word, she snatched up the items and consumed them ravenously.

_I guess that answers his question, _Alvar thought, amused.

As she finished consuming the items, she looked back towards Mewtwo with a slightly guilty look in her eye, most likely for the show of bad manners. She couldn't help it; she hadn't eaten or drank anything for 2 days.

Mewtwo realized he hadn't heard anything from the Skitty for a long time now. This was probably the longest the Skitty had ever gone without talking or jumping around in play. The kitten was just staring at the two of them, waiting for something to happen, with an undecipherable look in his eye.

He turned to the Skitty and inquired, "_Alvar, are you feeling alright?"_

He spun his head to make eye-contact with Mewtwo and replied, rather nervously, _"Yeah Mewtwo I'm fine."_

Lyric, relieved to finally have the attention off of her, if only for a moment, tried getting up. She collapsed, and Mewtwo rushed over to the side of her bed, "_You should rest, you are still very weak."_

As she lied back down, she couldn't help but thinking, _how did I get here?_

Not being able to restrain his mind-reading once again, he replied, "_I found you unconscious and I took you here. You were in very bad condition," _his tail whipping nervously as he spoke.

Lyric found it rather rude that this male was reading her mind like this, and Mewtwo, sensing that thought also, put up a powerful mental shield so it would not happen again.

"_I am sorry; I did not mean to intrude. Can you speak?"_

It would be much easier to communicate if they could speak telepathically; she was a Mewtwo. That's why, when she shook her head, Mewtwo looked at her strangely. _"Why not? A Mewtwo such as yourself should have the power of telepathy, unless someone has manually put up a mental barrier preventing you from using that ability. Did someone do something like this?"_

She shook her head again, and shrugged her shoulders, as if to say, 'I just don't know how.'

Alvar, very glad that the awkwardness of the situation was fading, strode up to the foot of the bed and greeted her.

"_Hello, I'm Alvar, nice to meet you."_

She smiled and nodded to him. It was impossible to fear him whatsoever, he was _way _too cute. The other large pokemon in the center of the room however…

"_Do you need anything?" _he said. He seemed genuinely concerned, but there was no way she trusted either of them.

_I don't think I'll ever trust anyone again. _

She shook her head, and he seemed content with the response.

"_I am going to sleep now, if you need anything, or have any questions…" _he looked around rapidly for a paper and a pencil. Finding one he handed it to her, _"just write them on this piece of paper." _Lyric noticed how tired he looked and how sunken his eyes were. Mewtwo then realized she had no means of waking him up if she did have a question. He looked at the Skitty, _"Will you watch over her for me now? "_

"_Of course!"_

The kitten was wide awake with excitement, but didn't want to make the female scared or weirded out by staring at her, so he just plopped down over in the corner and put his head down.

Mewtwo looked at Lyric one last time, and walked out of the room. She was feeling tired again, and decided sleep was the best option. She did have many questions, but they could wait. It's not like she was going to try to escape; she had nowhere to go. These pokemon were not of the human species, the species that had tried to kill her from day one, excluding the old man.

…_And he abandoned me anyway…_

Diverting her thoughts away from those painful memories, she focused on something entirely different.

The male Mewtwo's telepathic voice was nice, slightly deeper than an average adult human. It had this wisdom laced through it, as if he had lived for a thousand years. It was warm and compassionate. She wondered what her own telepathic voice sounded like.

She would have to ask him if he could teach her how to use her telepathy sometime.

Lyric sighed, she didn't want to think about anything anymore, she had a massive headache. Sleep would be nice right now.

_But how can I go to sleep? I just woke up in another one of my species' home… After almost dying…_

She realized he must have saved her life.

She cursed herself for not saying thank you. Oh right, she couldn't talk, she could have written it on the paper though…

_Damn it, here I go again, thinking about things._

Her head pounding again, she closed her eyes, forcing all thoughts out of her head. She tried to think about that wonderful dream she had dreamed a while ago, but making sure she didn't picture the nightmare it had turned into.

The green grass, the beautiful mountains, the wonderful smell of the air, and the feel of the grass on her skin; she could feel it all again. It was wonderful. It was a perfect life, a perfect world.

But she couldn't keep the nightmare from slipping into her memories again as she drifted to sleep.

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End of Chapter 7

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Thank you to **Stormrifle and R.Y.N.O **for reviewing my last chapter!


	9. Chapter 8: Breakthrough

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 8: Breakthrough

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After another entire day of sleep, Lyric felt that she was strong enough to walk. She didn't want to wake the males, the Skitty still sleeping in the corner and the other Mewtwo over in his room. He had made a room for himself apparently, a large sheet with a floral decoration separating his area of the attic from the main space. It was a small nook in the attic, probably only big enough for a blanket to lie on and a pillow. It had been very nice of him to give up his bed; she'd have to remember to thank him. She did wonder about his need for privacy, hiding behind that sheet, but it wasn't really important. She didn't remember that sheet being there yesterday, he must have put it up before he fell asleep. Strange she didn't notice.

As she slid out of the bed covers, listening to the quiet breathing of both the sleeping pokemon, she wondered again, _should I escape? _ Now was a perfect opportunity… But could she get away from them? The other Mewtwo was a powerful psychic, she was sure that he could track her somehow.

_Why do I even want to escape? He was nothing but kind to me yesterday. Of course, this could all be a setup, some sort of elaborate hoax created for the sole purpose of torturing her. That Mewtwo could even be a human in disguise!_

Okay, now she was getting paranoid. She had forgotten that she had no place to run, and if she did try to escape, she would just probably end up living on the streets again. Besides, this bed she had slept in last night was _heaven _compared to the ground at the shelter.

She was still very suspicious of the other Mewtwo. What was he doing at the Team Rocket headquarters and why was he fighting innocent pokemon? Where did he disappear to after all the Rockets came back confused from some place called Mt. Quena? Did he have something to do to that?

She finally decided that what she needed to focus on was standing up. So on wobbly legs, she slowly took a step.

_This isn't that bad, _she thought.

It just felt like her legs were extremely sore; holding up that shelter had really taken its toll on _every _part of her body.

_Damn, that was so stupid. Why the hell did I hold that thing up for so long? Practically killed myself!_

She hadn't been thinking straight. She was hungry, thirsty, and exhausted, not to mention lonely. _She was so lonely. _Then she realized how nice it was to be around other living beings. It had been a little over 2 months since that man had left.

_I wonder what I would have done if that man never existed. Probably died from those thugs beating me up. _

Her headache returned, and she cursed herself once again for over thinking things. She was standing, and she congratulated herself for it.

_Now what?_

"_I see you have regained your strength."_

She jumped at the sight of Mewtwo, coming out from under his sheet. When she realized it was him, she relaxed and nodded her head.

"_That is very good, I'm glad the sleep helped."_

Lyric realized that now should be the time to answer all questions, since they both were rested and they both probably had nothing else to do, but the atmosphere was already turning awkward because of her absence of a reply. She wouldn't get anywhere by denying all contact with the pokemon. She was here now, they had saved her, and she might as well make the best of it. She slowly navigated to the small shelf by her bed and grabbed the piece of paper that she would communicate with. Mewtwo went along with it, not saying anything, but nodding his head slightly, as if confirming that this is what he wanted to do.

She grabbed the pencil and sat on the bed again. Mewtwo sat down besides her, making sure to give her space to keep her comfortable, and they began their conversation.

Do you have questions?

Her handwriting had gotten a lot better since she had first begun communicating with the man. It was fairly neat, and easily readable.

Mewtwo, not knowing whether he should talk or write, froze for a moment. He ended up grabbing the paper and pencil, seeing that it would be awkward responding to her written questions with his voice.

Yes, I have many. I am sure that you do too. 

His handwriting was slightly slanted, and surprisingly tidy for how fast he wrote.

Well, you go first.

Mewtwo looked at her, somewhat surprised at the generosity, and agreed.

Why can't you use telepathy?

His first and main question; it would make everything much easier, and it should be completely possible. It was, however, a question Lyric couldn't give an answer to.

I don't know, I guess I just don't know how.

Well if that's the case, I could most likely teach you how. 

She looked up at him, wide eyed. If he could really do this, that would make communicating _so _much easier.

Reverting back to telepathy, Mewtwo started to explain, looking at her, _"It's actually fairly easy, once you get accustomed to it. It becomes second nature. I taught myself very soon after I… awoke." _It was fairly obvious he didn't want to go into his history, and Lyric could easily tell this. Inwardly, she felt relieved that he was created in the same way she was; it confirmed her suspicions that he was the other Mewtwo. Unless, he was made in a completely different experiment. His face did look the same as when she had seen him fighting in the Team Rocket gym. Before she could ponder anything further, he stated, "_Do you think you would be willing to learn?"_

She nodded her head.

He shifted his position so he was facing her more directly, "_Okay then. It's actually quite hard to teach… It is second nature... I do not even think about how I am doing it. I just think about what I want to say and then I project it outward… with my psychic powers…" _

As he finished the statement, he knew that the explanation he had given would not be enough. It was very hard to teach this, and she seemed to understand, gratefully.

_Project your thoughts, huh? _She thought,_ Seemed easy enough._

Concentrating hard, she thought of the word, 'hello,' tried forcing it out of her mind. Mewtwo, just staring at her concentrated gaze, was trying to determine whether she needed another explanation.

When that tactic failed, she clenched her fists and held her breath, but knowing that this wouldn't work even before she started, she let the breath out in a long 'sigh.'

Mewtwo had been thinking hard for another explanation, and the sigh had been the sign that he needed to give another explanation.

"_Try, not so much forcing it out of your head; try to just let it…" _he paused, thinking of the right word, "_flow out of your mind."_

She nodded her head and focused again. She tried not squinting her eyes, not tensing up, and just letting the words… _flow._ She almost let out a squeal when she very, very quietly, but definitely telepathically, whispered the word, "flow."

Mewtwo heard the telepathy, and even though it was barely audible, he let a smile blossom on his face.

"_Very good! You have used your telepathy." _He was extremely surprised that she had learned so fast, it had only been a couple of minutes! He stared at the excited, smiling face of the only other of his species, ecstatic that she had discovered her abilities, his smile not fading.

_Wow, this is great! It will make everything easier! _She thought, _I knew I had powers!_

"_It will be hard at first, but it will get easier over time. You will need to practice it often."_

Another smile emerged on both their face as she felt the word, "hello," telepathically exit her mind.

Alvar had finally woken up, and they both turned to look at him as he cut in, "_Whoa, did she just use telepathy?"_

Mewtwo replied to the Skitty, still with the small grin, _"Yes, she has just learned to use her psychic ability of telepathy." _Alvar just stared at him in awe, _"she actually learned extraordinarily fast, in a matter of minutes… Much faster than you did I might add…"_

Wait…_ did Mewtwo just make a… joke? _The kitten thought, as she heard Lyric burst out laughing, _telepathically. _The grin on Mewtwo's face only widened.

"_Yeah, and I might add that I'm not a _freaking psychic pokemon!_" _Alvar added, with a big smile.

Lyric, amazingly already getting the hang of the ability, managed to say, slightly louder than before, "_How can you speak telepathically, anyways?"_

The voice was now loud enough to hear tone and characteristics of the voice. It was fair, slightly hollow, and very noticeably female. It was higher than Mewtwo's telepathic voice, and it was actually quite pleasant to hear. This only made Mewtwo smile, _again. _

"_I have an ability called Assist," _the Skitty replied, also smiling "_It lets me copy the abilities of any pokemon that I am near. I copy Mewtwo's psychic ability so that we can communicate easier. My brain wasn't really built for any crazy psychic stuff, so telepathy is really all I can do. It's all I try to do anyways._"

"_It took you a matter of days to utter your first word Alvar," _Mewtwo retorted with a small chuckle.

"_Well I guess I just suck at everything!"_

This got another laugh from both of them.

Once the laughter died down, Mewtwo noted, "_I'm very glad that no one did anything along the lines of blocking your abilities. Any mental barriers can be difficult to get rid of. I would've had to enter the depths of your mind and destroy it from there. A very complex and somewhat dangerous process, which I would not want to put you through."_

Lyric replied, still not completely used to the telepathy, which was noticeable due to the still quiet voice, _"Enter the mind? I didn't think that was possible."_

"_Yes, it's very confusing, I'm not sure I understand it myself. I consider it very intrusive. If you didn't have any psychic barriers up, all your memories would be too easy for the person to break into. I will teach you how to make psychic barriers someday as well, but first, you should master the telepathy."_

"_I think I'm getting the hang of it," _she replied.

"_It sounds very good."_

As she was about to say 'thank you,' she remembered all the other things she wanted to thank him about. Now this was easily possible for her.

"_I wanted to thank you for… saving my life."_

She suddenly wondered why she was doing this… she had only met this pokemon yesterday, and she was already thanking him… Did she trust him?

_No. No way. I will never trust anyone. I've been hurt too many times. _

But that didn't make it wrong to thank the being you owed your life too.

"…_For saving my life," _she continued, "_and for nursing me back to health. I would probably be back at that alley… most likely dead by now…"_

She looked up at him, he was looking down at her warmly, "_You are very welcome. You did not expect me to just leave another… of my species, lying on the ground unconscious, did you?" _He was still in disbelief of the past events.

She replied, imperceptibly wary, _"No, but… Just, thank you…"_

She then realized she didn't even know his name. She knew the Skitty's name, staring at the both of them, with an amused look in his eye, Alvar. She had heard the other Mewtwo mention his name. But she didn't know _his _name.

Pondering how to ask before she spoke, she decided and continued, _"What do you usually go by… er… what should I call…"_

She sighed; she had messed that up royally. But the Mewtwo just answered her question like nothing ever happened. _"I just use the name, 'Mewtwo.'"_ He then looked at her, slightly nervous, _"And, what name do you go by?"_ Inwardly hoping it wasn't also 'Mewtwo,' that would cause a lot of unneeded confusion.

She smiled and looked up at him, remembering back to when she had read the diary.

"_My name is Lyric."_

_:::::::_

Giovanni looked very agitated as he stared at the computer monitor.

"Where the hell is this?"

The man at the computer replied, "This is the B Block sir, there were reports of electronic equipment stolen from this area too."

They were staring at feed from a surveillance camera, playing back on the computer. Giovanni kept staring at the screen.

"If someone steals from Team Rocket, they will _not _get away with it!"

_Wow, he is in a bad mood, _the man on the computer thought to himself. He clicked on the screen, switching the focus to a different view of the B Block.

The man on the computer looked to the Rocket boss, "Do you know how recently the theft was committed? Even if I have a basic idea it will be much easier to find the right time frame to look—"

"It's been going on for the past _2 months_," Giovanni replied, with a hint of fury. "How recent is this feed?"

"This is from about a month ago sir."

"Well fast forward a little and switch to a different block. Maybe that damn thief was less cautious after he'd been stealing from us for over a month. "

He fast forwarded two weeks and randomly switched to D Block. After a few more camera switches with no results, he looked at Giovanni, waiting for instructions."

"Hmm… try… 2 months ago, right when it started."

The man obeyed, and rewound the feed two months. He looked slightly scared when he thought about if Giovanni would take his anger of not finding anything out on him. As he switched to the last camera in D Block, all those thoughts faded, as they both gasped, wide eyed, at what they saw.

There, standing by the door to the gym looking through the window, was a strange, white and purple _Mewtwo. _

_:::::::_

End of chapter 8

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Thanks to **Starwhisker Spiritclaw, R.Y.N.O., Aku yoru no sakana, and Arachnautic **for the reviews! You all are the best!

Thank you for reading this far. As always, reviews are appreciated!


	10. Chapter 9: A Plan

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 9:

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**Previously:**

Lyric finally awoke from her recuperating and officially met Mewtwo and Alvar back at his home. Meanwhile, looking to see if he can find video on the surveillance cameras of an unknown thief stealing electric equipment, Giovanni finds a recording of Lyric staring through the window of the door to the Gym. He has no idea who it is…

:::::::

Giovanni, stared at the screen again, completely unbelieving.

"Is… that Mewtwo?"

The man at the computer just sat there, speechless. Giovanni kept his gaze on the screen.

"That one… looks different from _my _Mewtwo, but… how…"

He finally turned to face the man at the computer, "And this video is from two months ago, correct?"

Finally out of his stupor, he turned and met eyes with Giovanni, nervously, "Yes, a little over two months."

"Two months ago, Mewtwo was still under my control. He was fighting pokemon and was helping me out on missions at that time if I remember correctly… That thing right there," he looked back at the screen to the still staring Mewtwo at the door, "Is not my Mewtwo. It looks more like… some sort of..."

He took a long look at the Mewtwo on the screen, noticing the more flowing, curvy features of the pokemon. "It looks like a female… A female Mewtwo…"

Giovanni looked at the man again.

"Why the _fuck _is there a female Mewtwo in my building?"

The man jumped at the accentuated curse and tried looking defenseless as he could.

"Sir… I have no idea, I just work with the computers. I wasn't a part of the cloning experi—"

"_Shut _up." His fury was instantly gone. "Who was the leader of the cloning experiment…? Ah, it was Fuji. Dr. Fuji… He should be working right now back at his lab."

They silently watched the rest of the video, until the Mewtwo on the screen turned and ran out of view of the camera, just before two Rocket grunts walked through the door.

"May I see the file of this video?"

The man at the computer fumbled around on his desk until he found a flash drive. He hooked it up to his computer and transferred the file to the drive. After he finished, he grabbed the small, plastic device from his computer and handed it to the Rocket boss, "Here you go."

Without another word to the man, Giovanni grabbed the flash drive, turned, and left the office.

Once Giovanni got to Dr. Fuji's private lab, he went over the plan he had made on the way over there in his mind. Giovanni knew about the female Mewtwo that had been supposedly exterminated soon after its creation, he had been informed of that much by the doctor who bandaged his wounds after he woke up with his memory partially erased from… a stroke or something. This Mewtwo in the video… It could be the same pokemon…

_What did they not inform me of after I awoke… If this is Fuji's doing, he is going to pay…_

He opened the unlocked door slowly, and strolled in to find Fuji hunched over in a chair, looking at a microscope slide without a microscope very intently. Apparently he hadn't heard Giovanni walk in, because he made no movements to turn around.

The lab smelled of cleanness, of disinfectant. Like most of the labs in the headquarters did. It was small, and had an overwhelming amount of white. Where there weren't tools for what looked like chemistry, beakers and vials, there were electrical equipment and wires. Yet, it still retained that clean feel, despite being so cluttered.

He silently stepped toward the scientist until he was only a few feet behind him.

"Fuji!"

Startled, Dr. Fuji dropped the slide and spun around in his seat to face Giovanni. He let out a sigh of nervous relief when he saw the origin of the shout, and replied, "Sir, you scared me. Did you knock?"

Ignoring the question, Giovanni continued, "Fuji, I need to talk to you."

"Go ahead sir."

"Does this job treat you well?"

Fuji, instantaneously nervous of the mention of his job, stayed cool, "Yes, I very much enjoy my job—"

"Do you know what happens to employees who keep secrets?"

Knowing where this is going, Fuji replied, "Sir, I haven't kept any secrets from you…"

Giovanni was tempted to whip out the flash drive he had in his pocket and show the scientist the video, but he held out for a bit longer. He decided to be more direct.

"Do you have any secrets… pertaining to the experiment with the Mewtwo clones… that you have not told me?"

Fuji looked at Giovanni strangely, with a hint of fear in his eyes. He paused for a few moments before answering.

Deep down, Fuji did have a secret he had not told Giovanni. By the looks of things, it didn't matter whether he held it back or not, Giovanni knew what he was going to say, he was just trying to make him admit it. _How the hell did he find out about this…? I took every precaution to make sure it was kept secret…_

"… Yes sir…"

Giovanni tried not to look surprised, he had knew all along, but he couldn't help a smirk from appearing as he replied, "And why didn't you tell me about this little…" He paused, picturing the female Mewtwo in his head. "…secret…"

Fuji took some time to answer, trying to come up with the right words. "Because… I thought…"

Another moment of silence. Fuji dropped his head in shame and finally answered, "I thought I could save her sir… she meant so much to me…"

Giovanni's dominant, angry expression instantly changed to one of confusion, until Fuji ended,

"My Amber…"

Fuji let out a long sigh, as if a weight had come of his shoulders. He looked back up at the Rocket boss, slightly teary eyed.

Giovanni, still confused, slowly regained his anger as he retorted, "Oh, so you named her now!"

Now it was Fuji's turn to be confused. He got rid of the tears that were starting to form and kept the same very confused glance as he warily replied, "Of course I did… She was my daughter…"

Giovanni, speechless, took almost a quarter of a minute to respond, "What the _hell_ are you talking about?"

Fuji thought Giovanni had already known everything, and was shocked when Giovanni replied.

"M-My daughter… she died… and I tried to clone her along with the Mewtwos. I thought I could do it… but she wasn't strong enough…"

It had been hard for him, but he had done it. He had successfully explained the traumatic past of his daughter to Giovanni. Giovanni seemed to completely ignore Fuji, however, and simply replied, dropping all emotions, "Fuji, get over here."

Giovanni walked toward one of the many computers in the room and turned the monitor on. Warily, the scientist followed. Giovanni took the flash drive out of his pocket and swiftly plugged it in to the computer. He opened the video and turned to stare at Fuji, to see what his reaction was.

Fuji saw the Mewtwo standing at the Gym door, and was taken aback.

"Is that…?"

"This was taken a few months ago by some surveillance cameras in D Block. Do you know anything about this?" Giovanni interrupted, staring intently and angrily at the stunned scientist.

Fuji looked at the recording for another moment, taking in the features of the pokemon. Its face wasn't visible; its back was to the camera, but by the looks of the rest of the body, it did have similarities…

"That… looks like the female Mewtwo we cloned a while back… Fully grown from the looks of it. I thought it had been scrapped in fear of… rebellion, if I recall correctly.

"Yes, you recall correctly," Giovanni answered with a frown. "It's apparently still alive, which means that… _someone_ must've disobeyed my orders and raised it in secret."

Fuji also frowned, and replied, "The scientist who was in charge of disposing of the female clone, if I remember right, was the woman who was found dead in the closet of her quarters…" He looked at Giovanni, trying to see in his eyes if the Rocket boss had made any connections with this new piece of information.

_Damn it! _It was all Giovanni could think. That means the trail had run cold. For all he knew, that pokemon that she must have raised had awoken and rebelled. It probably murdered her, and escaped.

_Why the hell was it in the D Block then?_

After pondering for another few moments, he turned around, "Thank you Fuji."

He left Fuji's private lab and headed back to the man who he had found the video with. He would see if he could find any more recordings of this strange female Mewtwo.

:::::::

The river water felt wondrous on Lyric's dirty, matted fur. It was like the cold of the water was washing away all her aches and pains. It felt like heaven.

As soon as she could, Lyric had asked Mewtwo where a good place to clean herself off would be. She smelled like a sewer from her life in the dirty shelter. Mewtwo had told her that he bathes in the lake regularly, and had handed her a bar of soap and a towel. He teleported to the river with her, since he had to teleport her back when she was finished. She did not know how to use her teleportation ability yet, and this was considerably harder than just using telekinesis anyways. Mewtwo would most likely teach her that after she had learned more basic psychic skills, like levitation.

Wanting to give her privacy, Mewtwo had taken a walk. He had bathed recently and felt no need for a second wash. He had disappeared into the surrounding forest and left her to take her first, wonderful bath.

As she marinated in the heavenly water and began to lather up the soap, she let her mind wander.

Most of her thoughts were of the old man, surprisingly.

_Why hadn't he come back? Where did he go on those trips of his?_

She sighed. She had already pondered these questions many times before and knew she would never get any answers unless she got a chance to talk to the man again, which she most likely wouldn't.

Her thoughts shifted to a more relevant topic: Mewtwo. She had questions about this pokemon swarming through her head, and now that she could communicate, she could ask away.

_How would he respond?_

If Lyric was going to stay with Mewtwo, even for a short time, she needed to know about his past, and everything else. Even if he told her all these things, she still couldn't trust him, he could very easily lie. It would most likely make her feel more secure, however.

_Would she stay with Mewtwo anyways?_

Not this again… _I have nowhere else to go, _she reminded herself. _He's been nothing but kind to me so far and there's no reason I should treat him wrongly. He's the same species as me! He would never do something like that._

Then, she realized how little about this Mewtwo that she actually knew. She was of the same species as him, but she was also of opposite gender… What if he was doing all this for her, caring for her, only to later try and satisfy some sick desire of his? For all he and Lyric knew, they were the only members of their species…

This thought almost made her gag, she couldn't be thinking about things like this… She needed to focus on cleaning herself.

_Damn, the things I think about…_

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End of Chapter 9

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	11. Chapter 11: Psychic

If you're wondering where chapter 10 went, this is chapter 10. The prologue threw off the count, so this will make them match up again.

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 11: Psychic

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**Previously:**

Giovanni goes to Fuji to see if he knows anything about the strange female Mewtwo in the video. Surprisingly he doesn't, but he does let Giovanni in on a few important facts. Meanwhile, Lyric takes her first bath. Mewtwo plans to ask her more about her past when they teleport back to his home.

:::::::

"Have you found anything yet?"

As Giovanni stepped through the door to the computer lab, he saw the scientist sitting at the computer jump. Giovanni had a nasty habit of scaring people in this manner.

"Yes, actually I searched around that time frame and area a little deeper and found some more feed of the Mewtwo. It's nothing really interesting; the creature is just wandering around the complex, hiding, and listening in on some grunts' conversations. It's like the creature's just exploring, sir."

"It can't be exploring; why would it just be exploring? Let me see the feed," Giovanni replied sternly.

The scientist scooted to the side and opened some files containing the feed on his computer. Sure enough, all the Mewtwo was doing was wandering around and hiding. Giovanni got bored of watching various videos and finally stated, "That's enough."

The scientist exited out of the video and listened to Giovanni speak, "It might be mapping out the building for some kind of attack… Did you find any feed of it stealing any of the electrical equipment? Or where it goes when it leaves?"

The man replied, "No, all the feeds of the stolen items are not turning up anything. I can't find anything of the pokemon leaving either… We must not have surveillance cameras in the areas it does leave. "

"Damn it… so now what? We just let that thief go?"

"Actually, were still not sure it's the thief, sir. There's no evidence to support that theory."

"Oh come on, it's got to be the thief. It's too much of a coincidence to just be a random pokemon, and it's a damn Mewtwo! That Mewtwo was cloned in _these facilities, _it was supposed to be scrapped, but some idiot disobeyed my orders and raised it in secret!"

Surprised, the man questioned, "How do you know all this, sir?"

He sighed, not wanting to explain himself. "We worked on the Mewtwo project last year. It was an experiment in cloning powerful pokemon from an amazingly preserved Mew eyelash we found on an expedition. It was a success. _Both _of the clones awoke successfully_, _I only wanted one. The one that we wanted awoke, and nearly blew up the entire headquarters, but I apparently talked him out of it. I then used his extreme power to help in my missions. It must have been great while it lasted, that type of power could be extremely helpful to Team Rocket. He rebelled and flew off to some mountain… A team of Rockets and I went after him, and long story short, I'm guessing he ended up erasing almost all of the Rockets' memory of him, he was a very powerful psychic pokemon and was capable of this. The only reason I remember him is because some of the Rockets who stayed back at the base reinformed me of the project; their minds hadn't been erased. Were you part of the Mt. Quena expedition?"

The scientist looked stunned, "No sir, I was hired last month."

"Yeah, well you should have already read up on Team Rocket's recent doings. Don't you get the weekly memo?"

"Why yes sir…"

The Rocket boss sighed again. Why was he talking so much to this lowly scientist? Lately, he had noticed that he does this when stressed, or agitated. A nasty habit that needs to be broken.

He then turned and walked away from the man, leaving him even more stunned. When he rounded the corner into the adjacent hallway, he was pondering how to get to the bottom of this mystery.

_Hmm… This female Mewtwo… It must be a powerful psychic pokemon like the male… Of course it is. Don't psychic pokemon leave off some kind of…?_

If he remembered his schooling correctly, all living things have some kind of an aura. These auras emit a psychic residue, and psychics leave off the strongest residue of them all. If that female Mewtwo is a very powerful psychic, it left a strong residue, and should be able to be tracked.

But… only other psychics can detect this residue.

_I need to find myself a powerful psychic._

:::::::

There were a few psychics residing near the headquarters. Giovanni set up a meeting with the one he had heard most about. The meeting went as close to planned as possible. Psychic humans were known to be very peculiar. This particular one preferred to being called 'Psychic.'

After being offered a generous amount of money, the psychic agreed to come to the headquarters for a day and use his powers to benefit Giovanni.

A few days later, the day the psychic was supposed to come, Giovanni was sitting in his office. A faint knock on the door, followed by a gruff, "Come in," broke the silence of the atmosphere.

"You're late."

The psychic who entered was unusually short, about 5 feet. He was wearing all black and had a disturbing looking cloak with the hood up to give him the 'gothic' visage.

The psychic answered Giovanni's statement with another query, "What do you want me to do?"

The Rocket boss simply responded, gesturing to a chair sitting in front of his desk, "Have a seat, I'd like to get to know my employees."

"Please do not call me your employee, and I'd rather not waste time with simple small talk and pleasantries."

Not wanting to anger the psychic, Giovanni ignored the slight sign of disrespect and stated, "All right then. I hired you to track a psychic."

When there was no response, Giovanni continued. "A psychic pokemon escaped from this building, and I need you to track it down, find a lead, something like that. I am aware of the psychic residue that this type of pokemon emits, and I am aware that psychics can sense this residue."

It wasn't the whole truth, but it was all this psychic needed to know.

Rather rapidly, the psychic replied, "How long ago did it escape?"

Giovanni answered innocently, "About two months ago."

The psychic smirked in his cloak. Sure, psychics like him could track this so called 'residue' that living beings emit. The problem was that after only a few _days, _this residue became too faint to track for a psychic human. Yes, it was a powerful psychic pokemon that Giovanni wanted him to track, but it would have to be an extremely, _extremely _powerful psychic pokemon to even come close to picking up the residue after only a _month_. There was no way this feat could be done. Maybe, _maybe, _a psychic _pokemon_… an Alakazam could do it… Pokemon's psychic abilities are much stronger than human psychic's. A human brain is not meant for handling psychic ability. That is why you rarely see humans teleporting around and levitating. Simply put, even powerful psychic humans only have the most basic psychic abilities: telepathy, aural sensing, creating mental barriers, maybe very slight levitation.

_But why tell Giovanni this? Why sacrifice such a generous sum of money?_

He looked at Giovanni, who interrupted his thoughts, "Do you accept?"

"Do you have the money?"

"It will be given to you after you have completed the job."

_Damn it… _the psychic thought. _He most likely will not give me the money if I do not find anything… I will have to make something up._

He looked at the Rocket boss, and with a smirk he replied, "I accept."

"Very good, I'd like to get started right away then." Giovanni got up from out of his seat and began approaching the door to the office they were in. "We'll start in the main areas of this facility and slowly move out to the living quarters."

"Very well."

They traversed the main floors of the headquarters. They talked very little; Giovanni was allowing the psychic to have full concentration over trying to sense the residue.

When the psychic found nothing in the main floors, Giovanni began to get discouraged.

"Are you positive you can trace this thing?"

"If there was a psychic pokemon here, then I should be able to sense it," he partially lied.

Giovanni said nothing more, and they began to travel through the blocks, starting with A and ending with D. The main floors had taken them over 2 hours to traverse, and the blocks would probably take them another 2 hours.

There was nothing to be sensed. The psychic didn't even know why he was trying. As they approached the last block, D, the psychic was relieved that this was finally almost over. His head was hurting from the constant aural scans he had been performing.

Giovanni was acting strangely, he noticed. As they walked through the D Block, he kept looking at him like he was supposed to find something. The psychic took this opportunity to make something up.

"Hold up… I can sense something…"

Giovanni instantly perked up and smiled. "Really? We have a surveillance video of the pokemon in this block. It must've only spent it's time in this area for some reason.

_Well that explains his strangeness, _the psychic thought.

"Yes, it is very faint, I can barely sense it. But a psychic pokemon, very powerful, was in this vicinity."

"And you can follow the trail? Can you sense anything else?"

"I will explore the rest of the block with you, and I will tell you if I find anything. If the pokemon was here, than I should be able to find more traces of it."

"Well don't let me stop you."

They continued on. The psychic had planned on not faking any more, and he did so all the way until they reached a dead end, the end of the D Block. There was a door at the dead end, which led outside of the headquarters. Their journey had finally come to an end, after almost 5 hours of searching.

Giovanni looked at him disheartened, "Well, that's it. Anything?"

The psychic was about to respond, 'no' and give the best heartfelt apology he could muster, but he decided to make one last aural scan of the area before doing so. He had stopped truly doing the scans when they got to the B Block; it was fruitless. He would never have found anything.

As he scanned around quickly, his mind noticed something was off.

_Hold on a second… What was that…?_

He froze, and Giovanni immediately noticed. "What is it… Don't tell me you sense something _now!"_

He gestured for the boss to be silent, he needed to concentrate. There _was _a residue… It took him a few more moments to pinpoint a location. It was outside of the headquarters. _How could this be possible?_

The even stranger thing was that, according to the type of aura she sensed, it wasn't a psychic human or even a common psychic pokemon like an Abra that she sensed; it was something she had never come across before… Something very powerful.

He turned to Giovanni, "I think I found some residue of your pokemon."

Giovanni was excited. "Where is it coming from?"

He waited a moment before answering. "It's coming from outside the headquarters. I think it might be outside of this door."

"What? But… why would it be outside of this door, that's just an alley. You must be mistaken…

"Giovanni, what kind of pokemon was your psychic?"

Giovanni looked to the side of the man, not wanting to answer.

"This is _definitely_ your pokemon."

"Lead the way," he replied, still avoiding eye contact.

They opened the door and both walked out, into a cold alley. It was still fairly light; it was 4 PM. They both looked around, inspecting their surroundings. It was a fairly bland alley, some random wooden crates to the left, and to the right, a green dumpster. It smelled badly of dirt and garbage. The cars and trucks zooming by on nearby roads were audible.

The psychic turned right. "It's coming from over here."

"What, in the dumpster?"

He didn't respond, and approached the dumpster. He stopped for a second, waiting for Giovanni to catch up, and continued on past the dumpster. They both stopped and turned to face a dirty, scattered stack of cardboard, leaning against the dumpster.

They stared at the cardboard.

"So…" Giovanni muttered, impatiently.

"There are very strong traces of psychic residue emanating from that spot. I can't tell from how long ago, but I can tell you this: the pokemon that this residue belonged to was unimaginablypowerful." His voice had an undertone of awe to it.

"Either that," he continued, "or it was in this exact spot for a very extended period of time; something like a year." That would also explain why he could sense it. The longer the psychic pokemon stayed in one place, the more residue it emitted. But right here? That was very unlikely.

"Hmm…" They were both speechless.

Giovanni reached down and picked up the cardboard pile. There was nothing but a plastic plate underneath.

"So, is there any paths leading away from here?" Giovanni was still as hopeful as ever.

"No, the trail stops dead here. It wasn't even really a trail in the first place, just a few small blotches of residue. I'm sorry, I did my best."

"Yes, you did." Giovanni seemed resolved. "This only leaves me with more questions however…"

He turned to the psychic with a smile, "Thank you very much, you have been a significant help. If I have any other similar problems I will be sure to contact you. Here is your payment."

He handed the psychic from out of his suit pocket a stack of money. The psychic seemed surprised at this method of payment, but it worked, and he shoved it in his cloak pocket after snatching it from Giovanni.

"I will hopefully see you again, 'Psychic.'

All he said in return was a simple, "Thank you, Giovanni," and he turned around and walked off, eventually rounding the corner of the alley, out of sight.

He would not see him again.

:::::::

As he rounded the corner of the alley, Psychic was content. His time with Giovanni had gone surprisingly well. Even though he had lied multiple times, Giovanni had no suspicion. The one thing that bothered him the most had been that residue he had found in the pile of cardboard.

If he had sensed right, the aural residue had been from a _Mew. _But… it wasn't a Mew, it was something different. He couldn't put words to it.

The psychic did not want to have anything more to do with this. He did know someone, however, who definitely would. He whipped out his cell phone and dialed a number.

_He is going to like this…_

A hoarse voice answered over the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello Robert, this is Psychic."

The man let out a hearty laugh, "Old friend! How have you been! It's been what… 5, 6 years? Wow… So, what's been going on? Still freelancing as a psychic?"

Psychic waited a moment before answering.

"Robert, I think I found something you might be interested in."

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End of Chapter 11

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	12. Chapter 12: The Exchange

I didn't think I could get any more awesome but I pull it off with a TRIPLE update.

You had better review for this.

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 12: The Exchange

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**Previously: **

Giovanni hires a psychic to try to find any traces of the Mewtwo that he saw in the surveillance video. The psychic finds where Lyric stayed for most of her current life: the old man's shelter. This isn't any help to Giovanni, however, and he ponders what to do next. Meanwhile, the psychic tells an old friend about what he sensed back at the Rocket labs, a friend who is _very _interested…

:::::::

"_God where the hell are they… How long does a bath take?"_

The Skitty was back at the attic, waiting for them. As if answering his question, a white light materialized in the center of the room, followed by Mewtwo and Lyric.

"_Finally! I was beginning to think you would never come back!" _Lyric spun around, hearing Alvar's voice.

"_Oh, come on! We were only gone… what Mewtwo… 20 minutes?"_

"_Something like that," _the male clone responded.

Lyric still had the towel wrapped around her from when she was drying herself off back at the lake. She looked around.

"_Where do you want me to put this towel, Mewtwo?_

He pointed to a pile of random things sitting next to the bed. "_Just leave it right there for now."_

She walked over to the pile and took off the towel, placing it on top of the other items. As she did so, Mewtwo couldn't help but notice how much better she looked. All the dirt and grime had successfully been washed out of her fur; she looked like a different person.

As she walked back over to where he stood, he decided to begin the hopefully short interrogation. The last time he had tried to interrogate her, they had gotten caught up in Lyric learning how to speak in telepathy.

"_Lyric, I would like to ask you a few questions."_

She looked up at him, "_Go ahead."_

Mewtwo looked at Alvar, warily. _"Alvar, would you mind giving us some privacy?"_

"_Fine…" _the kitten said, unwillingly, as he trudged over to the exit and left the room.

"_Where will he go?" _Lyric asked, curious.

"_He will most likely sit on the stairs and try to listen in on our conversation."_

She smiled. "_So what did you want to talk to me about anyways?"_

He made eye contact with her, "_I would like to know more about you, Lyric." _

She thought for a moment before answering. "_Only if you will tell me more about yourself afterwards."_

Mewtwo thought about this. _We both know very little about each other, why should she be denied this information? She is of my species after all, and I admire her courage to ask. _

"_Very well, I will tell you my history once you have finished explaining yours."_

She seemed satisfied with this, and began her explanation. She was not going to tell him _everything _of course… She would not tell him about what she had done to Giovanni… everyone is entitled to their own secrets.

"_I woke up in a lab. I didn't know how I got there, who I was, where I was… things like that. Probably similar to your experiences, if you were cloned. No one was there to care for me, so I left. I went outside into the alley you found me in, and explored. The next thing I knew, I was being beaten up by some thugs who wanted to capture me for my strange looks. I blacked out, and when I woke up, there was a human there. I guess he stopped the thugs from capturing me. I think he was homeless, and he lived in a cardboard shelter in that same alley. He cared for me…"_

She paused for a moment. Remembering back to her darkest days was not easy.

"_We had conversations on this white board he had. I knew how to write and stuff, but I couldn't speak, I didn't know how. I was there for a long time… I would like to say we became good friends. He had his secrets though; he would never talk about his past. He also always used to leave for hours at a time, and he never told me where he went. He never even told me his name. One day he never came back. I didn't know what to do, so I went back to the lab I was created in. I read all about myself on a computer in that lab; my name, how I was created, things like that. I was created by a group called Team Rocket."_

This got a reaction from Mewtwo, "_Do you know when all this happened?"_

"_Yes I woke up something like 9 months ago."_

Mewtwo was awestruck. Seeing his reaction, Lyric continued, "_Things that I read explained that I was made side by side with you, and I guess the leader of Team Rocket didn't want you to rebel if you developed any type of caring feelings for me… so he ordered me to be exterminated. I was only a month old, I think."_

Mewtwo kept the same awestruck gaze at her.

"_I-I'm… sorry…" _was all he could say.

Lyric continued, surprised at his unorthodox apology. _"The woman who was supposed to exterminate me took me in, and raised me until I awoke. I don't know what happened to her…"_ She looked at the floor.

So did Mewtwo.

"_Anyways, after I read all I could, I explored the building I was in."_

Mewtwo immediately looked up. _"You explored the Team Rocket headquarters? Why would you do such a thing?"_

Surprised at his sudden outburst, Lyric replied, _"…I needed to find out more about myself, I didn't know what to do._

He gave her an apologetic glance, and responded coolly, "_Team Rocket is a very evil crime organization. If they would have caught you, they would have done horrible things to you…"_

Lyric relaxed, he was only angry because she had been putting her life on the line. He was angry because he _cared what happened to her. _

She smiled at this. After only a day, he had already developed those caring feelings for her that Giovanni had so much feared. And now that she thought about it, she most likely had those caring feelings for him, too.

_Do I care about him?_

Banishing those thoughts, she continued, "_While I was there… I think I saw you… battling a pokemon in the gym."_

He looked surprised, "_You saw me?"_

"_Yes, but it was only once, and I never saw you again. There were some Rockets whose conversation I listened in to… They said something about a Mt. Quena…"_

Lyric looked at him, to see if these words had any significance. They did.

"_Then one day, everyone disappeared. After a couple days, they all came back confused. I didn't know what happened."_

Mewtwo had looked down again. He had this ashamed, guilt-ridden expression on his face, Lyric wondered what for.

"_Eventually, I collapsed of hunger and here I am."_

He looked up at her, "_Do you know if anyone saw you during the time you spent at the headquarters?"_

"_I tried to keep hidden the best I could. I'm pretty sure, but I can't be completely certain."_

She looked at him. His face now carried an expression of confusion, maybe a hint of disapproval.

"_Well, I'm still here, right? That's all that matters."_

He nodded.

"_I suppose it is my turn then."_

She nodded, and he let out a big sigh. This would be hard for him. But if she could do it, he could.

"_I awoke in the Team Rocket laboratory, just like you. I had no idea you were made beside me… they must have separated us before I was strong enough to notice your presence."_

He looked at her intently. Could he tell her what he never told anyone? He had only known her for a single day. Why, then, did this feel like the right thing to do?

He sighed again, it was the right thing to do, but that didn't mean he had to tell her everything just yet, he could withhold a few things, like the entire New Island incident, among other incidents.

"_I woke up and Giovanni and his scientists were there. He talked me in to working for him and helping him. I had no other purpose in life, what else could I have done? It was not a satisfying life."_

"_What did he make you do?" _she calmly interrupted.

"_He showed off my powers to other corporations and used me in defeating any trainers he needed to."_

"_Did he ever make you kill a pokemon?" _She was serious now. Mewtwo could tell that the answer to this question would be a changing factor in how they viewed each other from now on.

The real answer was 'yes', he had killed dozens of pokemon under his former master's command, along with a couple hundred humans in the moments after he first awoke. He couldn't tell her this now, however. Not now, when what little trust he might have gotten with her would be instantly broken, when they had just met.

"_No, luckily it never came to that," _he kept his calm, collected visage and he could see Lyric relax.

_Well, that's good, one less thing to worry about, _she thought. She still couldn't shake the thought of him walking over to her bed in the middle of the night, evil thoughts running through his mind…

She shuttered, and listened as he continued, _"After a while, 6 months perhaps, I finally questioned him about my purpose. I was growing tired of the life he had made for me. He must've grown tired of my complaints because he told me I would never be anything better than a slave to humans. A slave to him. I was angry. I fled from him to a place called Mt. Quena. He sent almost everyone to recapture me, and nearly succeeded. A boy and his friends actually saved my life that day, I am still very grateful to them. I ended up erasing Giovanni's, along with all the other Rockets' memories so they wouldn't try to capture me again, and fled to this city, Vermillion. Hopefully they haven't regained their memories; they could try to capture me again. I am fairly certain, however, that they do not know where I am at this time."_

Lyric nodded her head in understanding. "_How did you find me?"_

It was a good question. "_I'm not sure I understand that myself Lyric, I was hoping you would know. I took a walk one day and found a note on the ground in the middle of an alley."_

He looked at her intently, "_It was addressed to me, from you, Lyric."_

She was awestruck. _"What? How is that possible? I never wrote a letter to you…"_

"_I do not know, it could have been written by anyone. It had directions saying that you would be at the destination. I followed them, and there you were."_

She blinked in amazement. "_This doesn't make any sense…"_

"_I know exactly what you mean."_

She looked at him. _"You must've been quite surprised when you saw me lying there!"_ she said with a smile and a chuckle.

It managed to get a smile from Mewtwo, "_You have no idea…"_

There was a moment of silence until it was broken by a knocking of the door. "_Hey, are you two done in there? I don't want to walk in on you two smooching!"_

"_What!" _ the kitten heard them both yell in unison.

:::::::

End of chapter 12

:::::::

Shorter than usual chapter, but a good one nevertheless.

You'll be getting a ton of updates over this week, its SPRING BREAK!

Please review! You've read this far!


	13. Chapter 13: The Collector

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Artist: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 13: The Collector

:::::::

**Previously:**

Mewtwo and Lyric exchange stories about their past. They both can't help but to withhold bits of important information that they do not feel comfortable sharing. Meanwhile, Giovanni is still clueless as to what to do about the strange Mewtwo that was on the premises of his headquarters.

:::::::

As he snapped shut the cell phone, he couldn't help but smile again. Robert had reacted in the way he expected, first disbelief, then the questions. Robert was a pokemon collector, an avid one at that. He had thousands of pokemon in his storehouse; every single one of them was different. He was missing only one, save the literally impossible-to-catch legendaries like Arceus and all those pokemon. He was missing a Mew. Sure, a Mew is a legendary pokemon, but ancient hieroglyphs depict a Mew being caught. That, and Mew has been known to wander around alone, so it should be possible.

That is why Robert had reacted that way also, especially when he told him that he thinks there's a Mew in the premises. The psychic residue had definitely been of a Mew's; it was just… different in a way he couldn't describe. But that was no matter, it was a Mew, and Robert would be happy to add it to his collection.

Psychic sighed. Now all there was to do was go on with his normal life.

:::::::

Giovanni was sitting at his desk, doing paperwork; the way he spends way too many afternoons. Today's paperwork was mission reports of a small trip to the Pewter City pokemon center. Apparently they had come in to possession of a very rare pokemon. The mission had been a success, but according to the paperwork, the pokemon had only been a blue Pikachu. Sure, it was rare and unusual and could bring a lot of money in the black market, but it wasn't rare in the way Giovanni would have liked. Giovanni needed powerful pokemon.

Of course, that thought led him to thinking about the Mewtwo, the one subject he did not want his mind to wander to.

"Damn it, where did it go!" he said loudly, and out of nowhere. It would have been quite strange to see.

Where _had_ that pokemon gone to? Giovanni was at a complete dead end. The Mewtwo was probably at a whole different city by now. There was no way that he would ever find it.

There was a knock at the door.

"What is it," Giovanni harshly replied. He couldn't help but sound a little angry.

"Sir, there's a man who wants to speak with you." It was a female voice, probably his receptionist.

Giovanni didn't want to be bothered right now. "Tell him to fuck off!"

There was a moment of silence before the voice answered back, "Ummm, he said to tell you that he can help find your missing pokemon. I don't know if this means anyth—"

"Send him in right away!"

"Yes sir."

He heard footsteps walking away from the door.

_How in the hell can someone know about my missing pokemon! And how in the hell could it be caught? Was there a way of locating its whereabouts?_

Another knock at the door.

"Come in."

A man walked in. He was somewhat short and had a black long-sleeved shirt on. He looked strangely familiar to a Team Rocket scientist.

Giovanni greeted him, "Have a seat… Mr…."

"Robert. Just call me Robert." His voice was deep, but not too deep. It had some sort of a weak tinge to it.

"Robert..." The man sat down.

Giovanni stared at the man for a second, searching through his mind.

"Robert..." He repeated again, gazing at the man's face.

"Hello, Giovanni."

The Rocket boss finally seemed to snap out of his daze.

"Robert! My it has been a long time. What have you been up to lately, old friend?"

"I have been keeping myself busy. I collect pokemon and invent things. Mostly new technology."

Giovanni nodded.

"So, I hear that you know something about my missing pokemon?"

"Yes, I heard from a good friend that you have had an… extremely rare… pokemon escape from your clutches." The way he said 'extremely rare,' gave the impression that he knew everything that the Rocket base was doing.

Giovanni noticed this. He wondered how he knew about the Mewtwo project… Maybe some Rockets are not being as loyal as he thought.

"Yes, I guess you could call it that. I also heard you have ways of capturing it. Please enlighten me."

Robert leaned back and began, "Well, Giovanni, I have collected every single pokemon that is possible to capture. Every one except for the extremely rare pokemon that was once in your possession. I have ways of tracking this pokemon down and capturing it. I could help you capture it and you would be in possession of it again. I would only like to have it whenever I need to show my collection to anyone."

He had obviously thought this over a great deal. Giovanni didn't see any reason that this compromise would not be fitting.

"What exactly were you planning to do with it?"

"Nothing unusual, besides show it off."

Giovanni trusted this man, as they had been good friends.

"Very well, that sounds acceptable."

"I would like to take you and show you my methods of capturing this pokemon. To see if they are… acceptable with you."

"Where are they?"

"They are back at my home. Please come with me."

They had a chauffeur drive them to his home, which was somewhat close to the Rocket base. Giovanni tried to keep the conversations to a minimum.

They arrived at the destination, and they both got out of the car. Giovanni examined the small house that he assumed they were entering. It was very small, maybe fit for housing 2 people at most. But he assumed wrong as Robert said, "follow me."

They walked to the left for about a quarter of a block until they got to a descending staircase between two large, brick buildings. They both descended the staircase rather quickly; Giovanni was excited to see what the man had in store for him. At the bottom of the staircase, there was a large gray door. The man produced a key, unlocking and opening the door in a matter of moments.

"In this way."

They walked in to a dimly lit room. More like a warehouse; it was a very large room with high ceilings. Everything was a shadowy gray; there were machines all over the place, some of them large and unwieldy, some of them more computer-like. It didn't seem like a place one could live.

Robert led him to a certain machine, this one had a very large computer monitor hooked up to a large keyboard.

"This is my most valued piece of equipment. I haven't thought of a clever name for it yet…"

Giovanni stared up at the giant computer monitor, slightly impressed. It must've cost a fortune.

"What does it do?" he asked, trying to keep any signs of him being impressed out of his tone.

He pressed a button on the keyboard and the monitor buzzed to life. There was something like a virtual map of the city, flickering on the computer screen, and there were dots, hundreds of dots of different colors, scattered about the map. About half of them were moving around. Giovanni couldn't help but be awestruck by the sight.

"This is a map of a 1-mile radius of where we stand right now," Robert said with amusement lacing his voice. "You see those black dots everywhere? Those are humans." He positioned the mouse so it was over two small dots that were located in the center of the screen. "This is us."

As he moused over the black dots, a window popped up with the title: HUMAN. It had a picture of a human and statistics about the human race; average height, weight, abilities, things like that. It was quite interesting actually.

"As you see, it shows information about the certain dot you choose. We are humans, so it gives information about the human race. Humans show up as black dots on the map. Other pokemon show up as different colors."

He exited out of the window and moused over to a stationary, dark red dot over in what looked like a forest. Giovanni could see where this was going. Another window popped up, this time with the title: HOOTHOOT, along with facts about the race.

Giovanni then realized how valuable something like this could be to someone like Robert.

He found that all he could mutter in his awe was: "How does it work?"

It must be unbelievably complicated; Giovanni couldn't even imagine how a machine like this could function.

Robert answered as if it were nothing, "Are you familiar with psychics, Giovanni?"

He continued when he saw his head nod, "This machine uses technology that mimics psychic ability. Every being has an aura, and this machine can decipher from that aura, what species each being in up to a 5-mile radius at a time, is. It's somewhat like radar, only much more advanced."

"This is very… impressive." Giovanni couldn't help but saying.

"Normally I don't let anyone down here, but this situation is… different."

Giovanni didn't reply, so Robert continued, "It's not the fastest thing in the world; it takes a tremendous amount of data to do this kind of scan. This 1-mile scan took about an hour to complete. The nice thing is that once it's done scanning, it displays the area in real-time."

Giovanni nodded and in response, Robert finally walked away from the large computer. Giovanni followed him over to a table cluttered with various items: some strange looking pokeballs and some equally strange looking pieces of fabric.

Robert rummaged through the items until he seemingly found what he was looking for.

"Ah, here it is. This little device right here…" he paused, seeing if Giovanni was listening. The Rocket boss was staring intently at the small black device he held in his hand.

"It's a fairly simple device. It sends out a wave or pulse up to 500 feet that represses any psychic transmissions that may be in the air space. This will be especially handy, seeing as Mew is a psychic pokemon. It will, shall we say, make the fight a little more fair…"

_Mew? _Giovanni thought, _why does he think that my escapee pokemon is a Mew? _

He pondered some more, _I guess it's acceptable to call it that, it is a clone of Mew; basically the same thing, but more powerful. _

He let the thought process drop as Robert set down the small object and looked at him.

"There is more I can show you, but we will save the rest for a later date. What do you think?"

Giovanni stared back at him with an evil smile, "I think there's a pokemon out there who will be wishing it had never been born…"

:::::::

End of Chapter 13

:::::::

Thanks to **Amaya, Greivous Girl18, and DarkraiFan462 **for reviewing the last 3 chapters!


	14. Chapter 14: The Training Begins

:::::::

Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 14: The Training Begins

:::::::

**Previously:**

Giovanni called in a psychic human to try and track the clones. The psychic knew that this was impossible; humans didn't have near enough psychic power. Despite this fact, as they were nearing the end of their search of the complex, the psychic sensed something. It was just a faint residue, but it confirmed the fact that something very powerful was living just outside of the complex for a long period of time.

:::::::

"_What's wrong Amber? What's happening?"_

"_It feels… like its time… to say goodbye."_

"_Goodbye?"_

"_I have to go…"_

"_Why?"_

"_I don't know… but it's all right. Thank you for caring about me. And don't cry Mewtwo, you should be happy! You're alive, and life is wonderful!"_

"_Life is wonderful."  
_:::::::

Mewtwo jolted up in his bed, panting and sweating profusely.

_It was only a nightmare._

He sighed and looked around. It was still dark; the sheet blocking him off from the rest of the room shut out any light that could get through.

_What kind of nightmare was that?_

And why had it made him so distressed?

_Who is Amber? Why do I feel like I remember something?_

His thought process was interrupted by a small whimper.

_Was that Alvar? _He wondered.

Another whimper sounded. He could hear the familiar snoring of Alvar as well as the whimper, so it couldn't be Alvar…

_It must be Lyric…_

He quietly got up out of his bed and moved the sheet aside. As he walked over to the foot of Lyric's bed, he could see her shifting under her blankets, and he thought he heard another small whimper.

_She must be having a nightmare… Should I wake her?_

He had experienced his own share of nightmares. Nightmares are agonizing; no one ever wishes so stay in a nightmare.

_The sooner she wakes up the better, right?_

With his mind made up, he gently put a hand on her quivering shoulder and shook her, trying to wake her.

"_Lyric? Lyric, wake up!"_

It got worse before it got better. She began to jolt spasmodically, and the panting and sweating increased. Mewtwo finally saw her eyes flutter open and her struggling came to a stop.

Lyric looked up at him with an aura of fear and confusion.

He looked down at her and tried soothing her, _"Lyric, you were having a nightmare, so I woke you."_

She sighed and massaged her temples with the three fingers of her paws. "_Yes, I was. I have been having them every night now."_

Mewtwo did not want to ask her what the dream was about. He didn't expect her to be comfortable explaining her nightmares in detail to him. Surprisingly, she went ahead and told him without even being asked to.

"_I dreamed about when I got attacked in the alley by those… humans… Luckily you woke me up before it got too bad."_

Suddenly, she leaned forward and groaned, massaging her head again.

"_Lyric, is something wrong?"_

"_I have a terrible headache…"_

Mewtwo waited to reply; he didn't know if this was a good idea…

"_May I help you?"_

She stopped massaging her temples and looked at him.

"_What?"_

"_I could soothe your headache if you like."_

She thought about this. It was just an act of kindness; any normal being does not want to see another in pain.

She nodded, and watched somewhat nervously as Mewtwo raised his paw toward her head. He gave a light touch near her temples and closed his eyes, sending the soothing power of Recover through her mind.

After he finished, he let his hand drop and looked at her still closed eyes.

"_Is it any better?"_

She opened her eyes, "_Yes, it's completely gone… Where did you learn to do that?"_

The male clone relaxed. The tension in the room had faded. "_It is actually a very basic psychic skill."_

"_I need to learn all these skills sometime. I'm completely defenseless… completely useless."_

Mewtwo frowned. Why was she discouraging herself like this? Did she really think that lowly of herself?

"_I could train you…"_ It really came out of nowhere, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

She looked up at him again. "_Would you really do that for me?"_

Mewtwo was surprised, "_Of course I will, you're a part of the Mewtwo race; you should know how to use your abilities."_

It felt awkward calling it a race; he had been so used to being the only one.

"_That would be wonderful… How could you teach me?"_

"_Most likely the same way I taught you telepathy."_

When she didn't answer, Mewtwo continued, "_I would also have to get you in shape, teach you how to fight. Psychic powers are not the only thing that you need for a battle."_

She smiled, thinking of the possibilities of being able to defend herself.

Mewtwo continued on again, "_It will be a lot of work, but I am sure you are capable of it."_

"_Could we start tomorrow?"_

He was surprised that Lyric was so eager to get started. "_Very well. Are you sure you are well enough?"_

"_Well my headache is gone. I feel fine; I think I can do it."_

"_Get some sleep then, we will start the training tomorrow."_

She smiled and slid back under her covers. She fell back asleep instantly, with no more nightmares to plague her.

Mewtwo also went back to sleep. He would need to rest up as well. If Lyric was resilient as he imagined she was, tomorrow was going to be exhausting…

:::::::

They both woke up at about the same time. It was noon, and the songs of bird pokemon were drifting through the open window.

Mewtwo didn't normally allow the window to be open; he believed it was an unnecessary waste of secrecy, but made an exception when Lyric asked. The air blowing through the window also seemed to bring in the scent of some type of sweet pastry. It was heavenly, and was the perfect way to start a morning. The Skitty in the corner, however, was still asleep.

"_How does Alvar sleep so much?"_

Her voice had continually gotten louder and clearer; Mewtwo thought it should be sounding normal in a few days.

"_I don't understand it either, Lyric."_

He was slicing up some fruit with a knife for breakfast.

"_Do you prefer oranges or pears?"_

Lyric looked back at him, confused.

"_I've never had either…"_

Mewtwo looked awestruck. "_You've never had oranges? What did you eat?"_

"_Well… most of the time I wasn't sure… I got bread some days. That apple from yesterday was wonderful; I wouldn't mind having another of those."_

The male clone just stared at her. All he had ever eaten was fruit. It was the only food he had ever known.

He handed her the orange, "_Here, come and eat this."_

She nodded her head and slowly got out of bed. As the blankets rolled off her body she noticeably winced in pain. She looked down at where the pain had been coming from. There was a large, red rash on the top of her left forearm.

Mewtwo noticed this as well and was concerned. "_Lyric, what has happened to your arm...?"_

The female clone looked up at him, her face shrouded in confusion and pain, "_I don't know… this wasn't here yesterday…"_

He was equally confused, looking at the mysterious rash, "_You may have rubbed your arm up against something in your sleep."_

She didn't answer, and slowly brought a round finger from her other arm to touch it. Immediately as the skin collided, she pulled her arm back in pain.

"_It hurts…"_

Mewtwo turned around and walked toward one of the many shelves in his room. "_I have some gauze that I could bandage it with if you would like."_

He brought the gauze back over to the bed she had sat back down on and began to wrap the gauze around her arm. Alvar had finally gotten up and was just noticing the rash.

"_Lyric, what happened to your arm?"_

Mewtwo replied for her, "_We are not sure; she may have acquired it in her sleep."_

The kitten looked at the rash, then back at Lyric's face. "_It looks bad… does it hurt?"_

Lyric turned to face the Skitty, _"Only a little bit."_

Mewtwo had finished bandaging the wounded arm. "_Hopefully the rash will fade in a day or two. Try to keep from bumping it in to things."_

She nodded in response, then looked up at him, slowly rising to her feet, "_So are we still going to train today?"_

"_I did not think you were in the proper state to do any type of strenuous work."_

"_Well besides the pain from this rash, I feel fine."_

She did not tell him that whenever she used her left arm, pain shot through her elbow joint. It wasn't excruciating pain, so she did not think it mattered.

"_I would recommend only training your psychical skills, not anything physical."_

"_I guess that's okay…" _She replied with a frown. Sure, she could defend herself with basic psychic skills, but even more so with increased physical strength.

_Maybe if I knew my abilities when I got beat up, I might have been able to defend myself and not have been so completely helpless…_

It was a painful memory, but she couldn't help but blame herself for what happened.

"_Do you still want this orange?" _Mewtwo had silently moved back over to where he had been slicing the fruit.

She walked over to him. He continued, "_Oranges can be either sweet or sour. I prefer the sweet ones myself."_

She looked down at the sliced orange on a small white plate he handed to her. "_How can you tell the difference?"_

"_Normally you can't, but if I performed a scan of the fruit I could most likely find out. I, however, enjoy the surprise." _He managed a small smile, which was odd for him. He had been doing that more than usual lately; usual being never.

_I wonder if my smiling has to do with the arrival of Lyric. _He had found himself to be happier than normal. He wasn't used to this feeling… happiness. Well of course he was happy… He had just found out he wasn't alone in the world. There was another of his species!

"_Well, don't tell me, I want the surprise too!"_

She snatched up the wedge and stuck the entire thing in her mouth at once. Immediately, Mewtwo tried helping, "_Normally, one does not eat the orange peel…"_

She enjoyed it nevertheless, smiling. "_This is great!"_

_I guess it would be great, compared to the moldy bread she must've consumed, _Mewtwo mused.

After a few more wedges for Lyric as well as the hungry Skitty, without the peels this time, she had regained her strength and all three of them headed up to the roof. Alvar had wanted to watch, having nothing better to do but sleep. A small doorway opened to some stairs that led to the mostly barren roof of the building. Mewtwo did not spend much of his time there; he did not want to risk being seen.

The roof was the ideal place to train, however. There was nothing around to clutter the area. It was especially ideal for learning levitation, which could go awry if not used correctly.

As they reached the top of the staircase leading to the roof, Mewtwo explained, "_Today I will teach you how to levitate yourself in the air with your psychic powers."_

This got an excited look from Lyric and they both walked to the center of the roof. She heard the Skitty behind her comment, "_Wow, look at that view!" _She looked around. It was actually quite beautiful for a cityscape. The sun was in the center of the sky, illuminating everything around. Even the alleys in between the buildings on all sides of her seemed less menacing with their entire length completely lit up. She could see the forest in the distance, and the lingering aroma of the pastries was still in the air.

"_Are you ready to begin?"_

She nodded her head. They both sat down with their legs crossed, facing each other. Alvar sat down over in the corner, watching them with an amused look in his eyes.

"_Levitation is a very crucial ability for transportation. It drastically reduces the time to get to any location without the use of teleport, a much more concentration and energy consuming skill. Even though levitation is a fairly basic psychic skill, it still requires a fair amount of concentration."_

Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. He was running in to the same problem he had with teaching telepathy to her. He couldn't really explain how he levitated, he just did. It was strange, not being able to word the instructions properly.

"_I'm not sure how to teach this, but…" _He quickly glanced at her. She was listening intently, taking in everything he had to say. He had to try his best.

"_I will try to keep the focus on getting off the ground rather than changing directions and moving in midair for now." _She nodded in response, so he continued._ "When I levitate, I try to think about my body being weightless; floating off the ground. Just try to imagine your body lifting off the ground…"_

It was really the best he could do. He closed his amethyst eyes and lifted himself of the ground about a foot.

"_That's exactly what you told me when I learned to levitate!" _the Skitty butted in, almost making the levitating clone lose concentration. "_It took me a month to get it down!"_

"_If you have a better way of explaining it, then please do not hesitate to tell me," _he said sternly. It had an obvious playful undertone to it, and Alvar just smiled. Mewtwo thought he heard him mutter something about 'the wrong side of the bed' before he turned away and was laying down in an opposite corner.

After watching him levitate, she closed her eyes and made an attempt. After a few moments she let out a breath she must've held and opened her eyes.

"_Hmm… I don't feel that… buzz… that I get when I use my telepathy."_

The male clone responded, still hovering with his eyes closed, "_try channeling that feeling… that energy… into your thought processes."_

She tried again. This time, Mewtwo felt a wave of excitement as her eyes bolted open, "_I feel the buzz!" _Then she looked down, "_…but I'm not getting off the ground."_

Mewtwo had finally drifted back to the ground and was watching her, "_Keep concentrating."_

They sat like this for a little over ten minutes, with the same result. Alvar, off in the corner, had begun chasing a leaf that had drifted on top of the roof. She was determined, and not the least bit discouraged after more time passed. Finally, Lyric looked up, opening her eyes, "_My headache's come back… along with some nausea…"_

Worriedly, Mewtwo replied, "_Perhaps we should be finished for the day. You have already made progress."_

"_We can't already be finished! I haven't even gotten off the ground yet!"_

Amused, the clone answered, "_Do not expect to have levitation mastered in a single day like you did with telepathy. I still do not understand how you did—"_

He was interrupted by a moaning coming from Lyric; the nausea had gotten worse. She had hunched over so her face was hidden from view.

"_I don't feel very well…" _she managed to mutter.

She had been concentrating hard for near half of an hour now, that was probably why she was so exhausted.

"_I believe that your mind is not used to the continued strain you are putting on it. You should probably rest."_

She didn't refuse this time as he helped her up and she hobbled over to the top of the staircase. Another wave of nausea washed over her as she tried to take her first step. Luckily, she managed to keep her breakfast of oranges in her stomach as Mewtwo picked her up telekinetically and levitated her down the steps. She managed to whisper a thanks while still floating through the air.

He floated her over to the bed and gently set her down there. The nausea had progressed fast. He couldn't help blaming himself for making her put too much stress on her mind at once. Lyric had her eyes closed and had her paws on her head again.

_Her headache must be back… What is wrong with her! This cannot be normal…_

After a few minutes she had grown calmer now, seemingly already drifting into a deep sleep. He walked over to her and gently began to unwrap her bandages. As he removed the last of the gauze, his amethyst eyes widened at what he saw…

The rash had spread.

:::::::

End of Chapter 14

:::::::

Yet another cliffhanger, I know how much you like them!


	15. Chapter 15: Sick

:::::::

Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 15: Sick

:::::::

The rash had definitely spread. It was at least 50% larger than it was when he had put the bandage on.

_How did it spread so fast? It had only been about an hour since he had wrapped it…_

Alvar had come down by the bedside with Mewtwo and saw the growing rash. It was very noticeable on the pure white skin of the female Mewtwo.

"_Mewtwo, that looks worse than before…"_

"_It has grown Alvar… But why?"_

She had fallen into a somewhat troubled sleep after he had levitated her down to the bed from the roof. This was good and bad at the same time, because she couldn't feel any pain, but Mewtwo couldn't ask her important questions that could deduce where this rash had come from.

"_She had headaches and nausea along with this rash. What could cause something like that?"_

It could be the flu, but rashes were rather strange for the flu. It could be allergies; that would explain a few things.

Alvar had hopped up on top of the bed beside the sleeping Lyric and had a comforting paw on her leg. _"Do you think she'll be okay? Should we wake her?"_

Mewtwo thought about this, "_Let her sleep for now, if it grows worse and she does not wake up in an hour, than we will try to wake her."_

The next hour went by slowly. They sat, watching her sleep. They had covered the rash up again and covered her back up in the blankets to keep her warm.

When an hour finally passed and she was still sleeping, Mewtwo decided to wake her.

"_I am going to try to wake her up, Alvar. I need to find out what's causing this rash so I can fight it."_

"_What could you fight it with? You don't have any medicine…"_

"_I am aware of that, Alvar," _he replied solemnly.

_What is he planning on doing? _Alvar wondered.

He grabbed a wet cloth and put it on her head; she was burning up.

"_Wake up, Lyric."_

This seemed to work, as she began to stir. She opened her eyes and immediately groaned.

"_Lyric, how are you feeling?" _Alvar asked.

"_Not so good…"_

Mewtwo began his questioning, "_Lyric, I need you to answer a few questions for me, are you strong enough?"_

She nodded so the male clone continued, "_Are you still nauseous?"_

She nodded again. "_Are you sweating more than normal?"_

She shook her head no. _Strange, so she is hot, but she is not sweating._

"_Do you have any joint pain?"_

She nodded again. _Joint pain and nausea, along with the rash… It seems like she has had an allergic reaction to something… but what?_

"_Do you know of any allergies you might have?" _It was a long shot, but would greatly help.

She answered no. The Skitty was still sitting on the bed, worried.

Not knowing what to do, Mewtwo put a paw on Lyric's good arm, and sent another wave of Recover through her body. It seemed to dissipate the rash a small amount; not as much as he hoped. Recover can only be used a couple times in the same day before it starts wearing off.

Alvar thought he had something that might work, _"Mewtwo, I know someone in the forest who is very good at curing diseases, I could go fetch him. He cured a flu I had back when I was a small kitten. It would take a day, there and back though…"_

"_Who is it?" _He was curious.

"_It's a Noctowl that has amazing herbal remedies. I don't know how any of it works, but I know it does."_

It was a much better idea than the one he was going to try…

"_Well if you think it could help her, then go."_

"_Okay, I'll be back in a day," _He hopped off the bed. _"Take care of her Mewtwo!"_

"_Farewell."_

He trotted down the stairs, presumably on his way to the forest. Once he was out of sight, Mewtwo looked back down at the female clone, lying in his bed.

_If anything happened to her…_

He was curious at that thought; how had he developed such feelings in only two days of knowing her? It seemed like it had been much longer. He definitely cared for her, and would fight for her if anything attacked her. Was he really this compassionate?

He had done the same thing for Alvar as well. After only a few days, he and the kitten had already grown a strong bond. He realized that he felt the same way towards Lyric.

_How can I give away my trust this easily? Do I trust Lyric? I trust Alvar…_

He did not know when he had gained trust in Alvar. He was just a kitten, but at times he could be so wise… He couldn't determine whether he trusted Lyric or not. He was still wary that Team Rocket was involved.

_That letter that led me to her… It's too much of a coincidence… Is it just fate? Destiny? That the only two of my species should meet?_

He sat there and pondered this. If she didn't get any better before Alvar got back, and the Noctowl's remedies didn't work, he would have to resort to his plan. It was a last ditch effort, but if he had to, he would.

_I would do it for Lyric._

Her rash had already grown back to what it had been before he had used recover, and a smaller rash had started growing on her leg.

"_Mewtwo?" _He had forgotten she was still awake. "_What if Alvar doesn't come back?"_

_Why would she ask that kind of question?_

"_Why would he not come back? I am quite positive he will return safely.A trip to the forest is not very dangerous, and he knows how to defend himself if he gets attacked. He will be fine."_

Mewtwo hoped he knew how to defend himself...

Somehow, Lyric managed to smile through her grogginess.

"_You should get back to sleep, Lyric."_

And with that, he had no one to talk to. He was alone again.

It was midday, Lyric had fallen back to sleep, and he was still alone with his thoughts.

_If she dies from this, I couldn't forgive myself. The only other one of my species… _He finally looked away from the sleeping pokemon on the bed. All his life he thought he was destined to be alone, the lone member of his race. All being alone had done for him had been the New Island incident. He had been at an all-time low at that stage of his life. Then when he and the other clones left Mt. Quena, he thought he could move on, but he found Alvar.

_Maybe I'm not destined to be alone… Maybe my destiny is to live my life with someone. _

He looked at Lyric again. He hadn't known what his destiny was since he awoke in the Team Rocket labs. At first, he thought it was to serve mankind, but he did not want this for himself. Then he thought he was to destroy mankind—it did not deserve to live. But the boy, Ash, he proved him wrong. Now what did he think his destiny was?

He could not resist asking himself one more time, looking at Lyric as he did so:

_What is my destiny?_

:::::::

"So when are we getting started?"

Giovanni was back in his office, on the phone with the pokemon collector, Robert.

"We could start tomorrow, if you want. Could you stop by tomorrow?"

"Yes, I have nothing scheduled for a week, I'm okay with tomorrow." He paused, "How are we even planning to do the search anyways?"

"I will explain everything once you arrive."

"All right Robert, see you then."

The Rocket boss hung up the phone, still curious as to how they could do such a vast search of the area.

_Maybe I'll get to bed early… _he mused. He didn't have any paperwork to do for once, and he was somewhat excited for the meeting tomorrow. Team Rocket had not been doing so great lately, he didn't have any idea why. Missions had declined and the employee count was slightly below average. Not that anyone voluntarily signed up to Team Rocket anyways…

_Finding that Mewtwo will solve all my problems…_

Slowly strolling to his quarters and getting in his luxurious bed, he fell asleep with that in mind, a comforting thought to him.

He woke up unusually early the next day, and started for the lounge to get himself a well-needed cup of coffee. As he entered the lounge he saw his second in command, Domino. She was sitting in a chair, reading a book. She noticed Giovanni out of the corner of her eye and was surprised when she saw him.

"Sir, what are you doing up so early?"

He started pouring a cup of hot coffee and replied, "I have a meeting." It was somewhat the truth; the meeting was not scheduled for another few hours. He sighed as he inhaled the scent of the fresh coffee. "I haven't had coffee in ages… too damn long."

Domino kept her eyes on her book, "If I don't have at least one cup a day, I get terrible headaches." She let out a small chuckle. "I must be addicted to the stuff."

Giovanni nodded, "I try to shy away from things that are addicting, but coffee…" he smiled, "it's just too good to resist."

He finished the coffee and went to his office to read up about the current doings of Team Rocket. He had ordered a small-scale raiding of the local hospital to replenish the medical supplies that were running short. It would save much needed money. The mission was supposed to be completed yesterday and had not. Giovanni would need to find out who was responsible.

He sighed as he scanned the paper. There was once again, very little to read up on. Team Rocket had not been making any progress and was losing money. He needed to find the reason for this sudden decline.

He spent the next few minutes doing monotonous things: reading the newspaper, signing a few documents, nothing major. When the time of the meeting finally came, he got dressed for the occasion and called for his chauffeur to be ready.

A few minutes later, he was in the car, driving to Robert's warehouse of machines. The ride only lasted a few minutes. Giovanni arrived at the familiar staircase leading to the warehouse and didn't bother thanking the driver as he exited the car.

_It's not like he deserves my gratitude, _he thought to himself.

He descended the steps gingerly and slowed to a halt as he neared the large, gray door. He rapped on the door a few times. It took slightly longer than normal for Robert to open the door, but it _was _a big warehouse.

"Hello Giovanni, come on in."

The Rocket leader stepped through the door into the now familiar shadowy gray, mechanical environment. Without a word, Robert led him over to the large computer that acted as a radar.

"I haven't done much with it—I need you to direct me to a location to search first. Do you have a specific location that you think the pokemon is at?"

Giovanni hesitated, "Not exactly… You should most likely start the search back at my headquarters."

Robert turned to the computer and started pressing buttons on the keyboard, presumably inserting the location to search from, "I will start with a small search, say… three blocks from the headquarters—to see if your Mew is still hanging around…"

It took a few minutes for the computer to load the information, but when it finally did, there was nothing to be found. The area around the Rocket base was mostly buildings and alleys.

As Robert scanned through the list of pokemon that showed up in the corner of the screen, he noted, "It looks like there's nothing but Rattata, Raticate, and other useless pokemon in this area, Giovanni."

The Rocket boss nodded, staring at the screen with Robert.

"Keep searching. It couldn't have run far…"

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End of Chapter 15

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**Note:** if you missed it, the Rocket headquarters are in Viridian city and Mewtwo's home is in Vermillion.

Big thanks to **R.Y.N.O **for reviewing the last chapter!


	16. Chapter 16: Recuperation

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 16: Recuperation

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**Previously:**

Lyric is sick with some kind of allergy, so Alvar takes a trip to the forest to get a healer. Meanwhile, Giovanni begins his search for Lyric…

:::::::

Alvar still hadn't come back. It had only been eighteen sleepless hours since he had left, but it was hard not to worry. Lyric had woken up a few times to eat and drink something, but she was now asleep.

It was the next morning, and a nice one at that. Just like the day before, the birds were singing. Sadly, there was no smell of pastries today. It didn't really matter to the pacing clone, tail lashing through the air, because Lyric's multiple rashes overshadowed all that.

The rash on her swollen arm was large. It had turned a shade of red and grotesque purple the day before and may have taken on a yellow from infection. Whatever had caused this reaction, she was severely allergic to it. The smaller rash on her leg had not grown at all, thankfully. In the past eighteen hours, the rash had seemed to go into a standstill.

Mewtwo cursed himself for not having any type of antibacterial ointment to apply to the rashes. He could go and get some from a local pharmacy using his illusion ability to disguise himself, but he would have to leave Lyric here as he did so.

I need to stop worrying… Alvar will come back and the Noctowl he spoke of will cure Lyric's allergy. If not, then my plan most certainly will. I know for a fact that she will not die.

He still couldn't help but worrying. What if the rash progressed to the point that it's deadly before Alvar came back? He would have to act before he even came back if something like that happened, but hopefully it was unlikely.

Mewtwo sat down in a chair on the other side of the room, watching the bed-ridden pokemon's rash on her leg. He was trying to detect if it was growing or not. After an hour of watching, it seemed like it was doing quite the opposite:

It had started receding.

Once the worried male clone realized this was happening, he was utterly confused.

…_Why would it be receding? Maybe it wasn't an allergic reaction? But what could it be then?_

He got up and floated over to the bedside. He then started gently unwrapped the bandages on Lyric's arm, to check the status of the rash. Sure enough, it had also started receding.

His confusion won over his happiness that she would be okay. He wanted to know what had caused the rash above anything; most likely so he could prevent it from ever happening again.

He was startled out of his confusion with the sound of church bells. Today was Sunday. He growled and cursed himself for being startled by such a silly thing. His anger was soothed, however, by the choral voices that rose up from the cathedral below. They had started singing.

Mewtwo stopped thinking to listen to the songs being sung. He couldn't make out any of the words, but the voices were comforting. There were four different songs sung before the singing finally died down, and the clone could hear the murmuring of the pastor.

Normally he ignored the singing because it annoyed him; most of the time the voices weren't even in tune, but today was different. He had actually enjoyed the choir, despite it being off-key.

He stared off into nothingness—the choir had put him into deep thought, as many things do.

_Am I changing?_

It had only been half a week and he was already wondering if he was changing inside.

_Is it because of Lyric?_

The realization that he was not alone in this world had done more for him than Lyric would ever know.

A few hours later, Mewtwo heard the shuffling of feet as the church service was dismissed. He couldn't help but ponder: why do they pray to a God that they are not sure exists?

Mewtwo had had plenty of time to think about the topic of religion. Christianity was interesting, like most religions; Christians believe that their God created the earth, and everything in it. They believe that after they die, they either go to a place called Heaven: a wonderful place where there was no suffering, just happiness, or a place called Hell: a horrible, fiery pit where there was suffering for all eternity. Which place they went depended on what their beliefs were. Atheists and all other non-Christians went to Hell when they died, while the Christians went to Heaven.

Sure, it was a very interesting religion to Mewtwo, but he saw a flaw. How can there be a loving, caring God when there is so much evil in the world? The clone had seen his fair share of evil throughout his life. Giovanni had almost made him believe that the entire human race was completely evil. There was good in the world… Wasn't there good non-Christians? Why did they deserve to go to Hell even if they were good all their life?

Mewtwo sighed. All religion ever brought to anybody was arguments, battles, and death. That was why he was an Atheist. It had the least amount of belief based on faith, and frankly, was the least complicated.

The clone looked back at Lyric. He had completely zoned off and ignored her for the past few hours. He cursed himself and floated over to her. Her rashes were still receding and the rash on her leg was almost completely gone. Alvar would be back soon… What would he tell him? If the rash continued dissipating like it was, it would be near healed by the time he got back. He would probably be angry… He rarely saw the Skitty get angry…

_No, he will be nothing but glad that Lyric is already better._

Yes, that fit Alvar's personality much better.

As Mewtwo was looking out the window, watching some humans across the street walk in to a building, he randomly realized that if Lyric was getting better, she shouldn't be still sleeping. He got another wet rag and set it across her forehead.

He didn't even have to say anything this time, because she opened her eyes when the cloth came in contact with her skin.

Mewtwo let a smile come to his face at the sight of her beautiful, amethyst eyes, _"I have some good news."_

She stared up at him groggily, wondering what the news could be.

He continued, _"Your rash is receding—it should be gone by the time Alvar gets back."_

She seemed to wake up then, _"Oh, really? How long until he gets back?"_

_"Only a few hours now."_

Lyric smiled. _"Boy is he going to be mad… That entire trip for nothing."_

Mewtwo didn't reply, he was just staring at Lyric's warm smile.

_"I am glad that you are all right."_

Her smile just widened and she threw off the blankets and started to stand up. Mewtwo's smile faded, _"Are you sure you are strong enough to walk?"_

_"Actually, I'm feeling a lot better. I still have a small headache, but I'll be fine."_

She got up and stretched her muscles. She had been in bed for too long.

_"Your voice is sounding almost normal, Lyric. You have learned telepathy extremely fast."_

She thanked him for the compliment and turned to face him. He seemed to be watching her to see if she was strong enough to stand, _"Do you know how it went away, Mewtwo? The rash?"_

He thankfully sighed, _"I do not know. Maybe your body built up an immunity to whatever you were allergic too. It matters little, as I am not concerned about anything but your safety."_

_"…I'm glad I'm okay too…"_

_Wow, that was stupid… Way to make some intelligent conversation… _She scolded herself. Mewtwo didn't seem to notice the semi-intelligent remark, however, because he walked over to a shelf and grabbed an orange.

_"Would you like another one of these?"_

She smiled, _"Yes, I am very hungry!"_

They were interrupted by a clomping coming up the stairs. Alvar?

The Mewtwos' suspicions were confirmed when they heard a familiar telepathic voice, obviously urgent, _"Mewtwo! Is she still okay?"_ The door flung open and in walked Alvar. He immediately froze in place when he saw Lyric, standing next to Mewtwo.

There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other—Alvar realizing that she must've gotten better while she was gone, and the Mewtwos wondering if Alvar would freak out that they sent him on a fruitless mission.

Finally, Alvar broke the silence, _"You're okay!"_ He trotted over to her, smiling, and she got down on her knees, to greet him. Not knowing exactly what to do, she awkwardly put a hand on the kittens head and scratched his black ears. The Skitty loved this—he closed his eyes and purred.

_"I'm happy to see you to, Alvar,"_ She chided him. He was carrying a bag of something on his back, and the Mewtwos noticed that there wasn't another pokemon in sight—one that could've healed Lyric.

_"Alvar, where is the Noctowl you said you would bring?"_ Lyric finally stopped scratching him so he could reply.

_"I was just about to tell you! I found him, but he was too busy to come back here with me. I should have figured that would happen… He gave me some things in this bag that could help," he handed the bag to them, "but it looks like you don't need it anymore…"_

Mewtwo joined the conversation, _"No, it looks like she's almost made a full recovery. I am sorry for sending you on that mission for nothing Alvar… You must have been very worried."_

_"No problem, I'm just glad she's okay!"_ He replied, smiling at Lyric, who questioned, _"Did you run in to any trouble on your trip?"_

Alvar finally dropped his smile and replied, _"No, I tried to stay in the shadows so no one would see me. All the pokemon in the forest tend to shy away from me because I'm completely black, but I guess that's a good thing."_

He glanced at the orange Mewtwo was still holding. _"Breakfast! I'm starving!"_

Lyric laughed and asked, _"Didn't you have anything to eat on your journey?"_

_"Well, yeah… Only a few berries though."_

Lyric smiled, imagining the kitten picking a few bushes clean of their berries. That Skitty had quite an appetite.

Mewtwo cut up the orange and served it to them. He took a slice for himself. They took a while to eat—the Skitty kept them interested with his story of what had happened during his journey. There was quite a lot of action for a little under a day… Either way, it was entertaining.

_"So are you still sure it was an allergy Mewtwo?"_

Mewtwo replied to the kitten after he finally finished telling his story, _"I'm not so sure anymore. The symptoms seemed to point to an allergy related problem, but it could easily have been other things."_

The kitten turned to Lyric, _"Can I see your rash, Lyric? Or is it already gone…"_

"It might be actually…"

She unwrapped the bandage from her arm and they stared at the rash.

Mewtwo narrowed his eyes, _"It looks very much the same as when Alvar came back."_

Alvar broke his gaze away from the rash to reply to Mewtwo, _"Which was what… an hour ago? I don't expect a rash to disappear that fast."_ He looked back at the clone still examining her arm, _"I'm sure you'll be fine in a few hours, Lyric."_

Lyric nodded, _"You're probably right. I still have that small headache I had an hour ago, but I'm sure that will go away too. It's not like the rash is going to grow again, right?"_

Wrong.

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End of Chapter 16

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I would like to take this time to note that I am not an Atheist.

Thank you for reading this far once again, and a review or two would be appreciated!


	17. Chapter 17: Downhill

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 17: Downhill

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**Previously:**

As Alvar leaves to go find help from a healer pokemon he knows from the forest, Mewtwo stays with Lyric, watching over her strange sickness from an unknown allergy. Thankfully, Alvar returns home but she had already almost made a full recovery. _Almost._

:::::::

The rest of the day was uneventful; they just waited for the time to pass by and went to bed early. Lyric still had her headache and the rash hadn't completely receded, but she wasn't really affected by it at all. Sure, the headache was annoying but it would have to pass eventually.

As nighttime finally crept up on them, and the crickets started chirping, they began preparations for sleep. Lyric was glad that it was nighttime; the day had been boring. Mewtwo had not allowed any more lessons on her psychic abilities until she was fully healed. He was probably right, but Lyric didn't think he realized how eager she was to learn her powers.

Graciously, Lyric was still allowed Mewtwo's bed, while he slept in the corner, still behind the sheet. As she crawled under the covers, excited for a good night's sleep, Mewtwo asked her if she needed anything else.

"_I think I'm ready... What do you normally do to get ready for bed?"_

She unnoticeably winced in pain. She hadn't told Mewtwo that her headache had gotten worse over the past hour.

He stopped what he was doing to reply, "_I try to brush my teeth with a human toothbrush, but it is difficult... Also, I try to do a short meditation as well..." _He looked slightly uncomfortable, "_to w__ard off unpleasant dreams."_

She looked amused, "_Oh, really? Does it work?"_

_"...Not all of the time..."_

She wasn't phased by the male clones slightly awkward tone, "_I'm still having nightmares... Even if it works some of the time, you should teach me how to meditate properly."_

He glanced over at the sleeping Skitty, breathing steadily. The kitten had hopped up onto Lyric's bed and was curled up in the corner. Mewtwo replied, keeping the slightly awkward tone to his voice, "_I will teach you many things once you recover. You can decide what you want to learn first."_

She was optimistic, "_I'll be better by tomorrow. We should resume our levitation training; I think I was really close to getting it..."_

_"Very well, we will resume the training tomorrow if you are feeling better... But for now we both need sleep."_

She was satisfied, and she slid under the covers. Her head was throbbing for no apparent reason; she shut her eyes to try and ease the pain. She couldn't massage herself in fear that Mewtwo would notice; he would definitely not let her train if he found out...

So she fought through it, and waited until she could hear the only other male of her species' breathing slow and change into a steady rhythm of in and out. It was a comforting sound, and it put her to sleep.

:::::::

When she awoke the next morning, the first thing she noticed was the nausea. The horrible nausea... mixed with pain from her now worse headache... She jolted up in bed and the nausea got the best of her. She regurgitated yesterday's partially digested dinner of fruits and some vegetables. Her stomach spasmed, forcing the vomit up and out of her throat, onto the blanket of the bed.

She managed to get a short breath in before the next spasm came, forcing even more bile from her body. The disgusting, unpleasant taste that it left in her mouth only added to the unpleasantness. The bile splattered onto the bed as her heaving finally came to a stop; her stomach empty of all its contents, now soaked into the blankets covering her legs.

The Skitty, still curled up on the corner of the bed, was luckily far enough away to not get any of the vomit on him. However, the disturbing noise of Lyric actually throwing up had awoken the kitten, and he had scrambled off the bed once he realized what was happening.

"_Lyric! You...' _Alvar was speechless. This was completely unexpected.

When she finished, Alvar could only stare in horror at the weakened, distraught Mewtwo, trembling and trying to wipe the bile off of her mouth.

Her headache had gotten much worse, and her legs and arms had a sharp pain sent through them whenever they were moved. This, along with the aching stomach she now had. Weakly, she glanced over to the sheet that Mewtwo slept behind. He was apparently still sleeping, as he had not scrambled out of the corner.

The Skitty, following her gaze, suddenly bolted into action. He ran over to the sheet and pushed it aside, jumping almost ontop of the still sleeping male clone.

"_Mewtwo! Wake up! Lyric's sick!"_

A few more moments of the kittens shouting and the clone finally jolted up in bed, unscrambling the words from Alvar in his still groggy head and realizing the significance. He scrambled onto his feet and pushed the sheet aside, knocking it down in the process. His eyes, adjusting to the light, jumped around the room, looking for Lyric.

When he saw the exhausted form of the Mewtwo crumpled up on the bed, weeping, he stumbled over to her side. Thats when he inhaled a deep breath through his nose.

The smell almost made him gag; the vomit covered the blanket and had already started to soak in. Lyric was helpless while sobbing in pain, grasping her stomach and doubled over on the bed.

"_Lyric... What happened..."_

She managed to lift her trembling head up to him. She was very pale and she was sweating profusely.

_What happened during the night?_

_"I don't feel..."_

It was all she could get out before doubling over in pain once again.

Ignoring the stench, she knelt by her side and questioned, "_Where does it hurt?"_

_"Everywhere..."_

Mewtwo's eyes bolted to the bandage on her arm, now drenched in sweat. He telekinetically unwrapped it, making sure to be as gentle as he could, and gazed upon her arm.

It was red... very red; and swollen. The rash had gotten worse, much worse, over the night. The sight of the arm made him turn his head away and wince in disgust and fear for her. She had had a severe allergic reaction to something over the night. But why had it receded the day before and was only now getting this bad?

Mewtwo raced over all the possibilities in his head about what she could be allergic to. _What did she not have yesterday that she has today?_

He examined the rest of her body. There was another large rash on her leg, as well as a bad one on her hand and fingers.

_Fingers... that means she must have handled whatever it is..._

His eyes widened in sudden realization:

_The oranges..._

She had eaten oranges the day she was sick... But that wouldn't explain why the reaction had progressed overnight so drastically; yesterday's dinner had not consisted of oranges, but of other fruits. That also wouldn't explain why there was rashes on her arm and leg.

She was still doubled over, weeping as he examined her again. The rash on her arm had progressed very harshly. The normally white appendage was now almost fully a deep shade of red up to her elbow. The rash on her leg was a little less extreme. It was on her lower thigh, flushed red and surrounding a darker red mark about two inches in diameter located in the center of the rash. The mark was oddly shapen; it almost looked like a disfigured heart... or a... pawprint...

The realization hit him like a bullet.

_A pawprint... Alvar..._

He spun around and stared at the shocked Skitty, still staring in disgust at the weeping Lyric on the bed.

It all made sense now.

_She is allergic... to Alvar?_

Of course she was... it was so obvious now that he thought about it. She had been around the Skitty for almost two days before the symptoms started showing, and then when the Skitty left to retrieve the healer, she had gotten better!

He cursed himself for being so ignorant. If he could have figured this out beforehand, this all could've been prevented.

_Damn... I even remember Alvar putting his hand on exactly where the rash on Lyric's leg is... And I didn't even notice..._

Now what he needed to focus on was how to cure this.

_Alvar can not be around Lyric anymore... Alvar will have to... leave?_

Would Alvar have to leave? He had known Alvar much longer than Lyric, but he couldn't make Lyric leave... She was sick, and she was _his species! _She couldn't leave... But did that mean the Skitty could?

Snapping back into reality, he spun his gaze so it was facing Alvar and Lyric. He was horrified to see the kitten on the bed, cautiously rubbing up against the now quiet but still trembling Lyric, trying to comfort her.

"_Alvar! Get away from Lyric immediately!" _He couldn't help but yell.

The Skitty almost leaped off the bed in fright at Mewtwo's seemingly random outburst, but he obeyed and hopped off the bed, staring at Mewtwo who was looking back at him in horror. It took him a moment to regain his ability to talk and he replied, "_Why Mewtwo? Whats wrong?"_

He looked at the both of them grimly, "_I suspect Lyric is somehow allergic to you, Alvar; whether it be your fur, or something else."_

When he got confused looks back from the both of them, he continued, "_Look at the rash on her leg closer."_

The kitten broke eye contact to look at the rash. Sure enough, their eyes widened and Alvar looked down at his paws and back up at the rash, which Lyric was staring at in a stupor.

The Skitty was awe-struck, "_This is... all my fault..."_

Lyric worked up the strength to speak again and immediately answered, "_No. Don't think that Alvar; this has nothing to do with you. It is my allergy, and is not your fault."_

The exerted strength from talking had taken it's toll on her and she rubbed her temples and tried not to inhale. The stench emanating from the bile on the bed made the clone want to vomit again.

Mewtwo added, carefully snatching the dirty blanket off of the bed and disposing of it as he did so, "_Lyric, I think you should avoid being around Alvar for the time being. Hopefully it has not progressed enough to become life threat-"_

He was interrupted by a groan from Lyric. She had curled up into a ball and still had her paws on her head. "_It hurts..."_

_I think it might be too late for that... _He thought to himself.

That meant the only other option was his last-ditch plan, if nothing else worked. It looked like nothing else would... He would give it another hour, and if Lyric showed no signs of improvement, he would put his plan to action.

He gazed over both of them. Alvar was watching Lyric moan and writhe, with a guilty and worried look on his face. Mewtwo couldn't stand to see her in pain either, so he tried to avert his gaze from her. He found he couldn't help it...

"_Mewtwo, what are we going to do?" _Alvar asked worriedly, "_I don't think she's going to get better even if I leave... I'm almost positive the stuff I brought back here from the Noctowl back at the forest was not meant for a case this severe..."_

Mewtwo gazed at him grimly, knowing the Skitty was right.

"_I have a plan that I know will work... It is very risky, but I am willing to take the risk."_

It was definitely risky, but there was not much Mewtwo wouldn't do for Lyric.

..._There is not much I wouldn't do for her..._

Mewtwo was staring at her with an undecipherable look in his eye; Alvar noticed, and warily asked, "_Mewtwo... what's your plan..."_

He didn't turn to look at the kitten, but kept his eyes on Lyric, seemingly lost in thought.

"_I'm going to get help."_

Mewtwo didn't know anyone who could counteract the allergen that was disrupting the natural process of her body. He did know, however, that the human hospitals had methods; injections that _could _counteract the allergy. He also knew that any human who saw him would either turn and run or shoot first ask questions later.

Mewtwo had ways he could get around this... that was his plan.

He was still staring at Lyric. She could not be cared for while he was gone, so the clone would have to act now, and _fast; _before it could progress any more and be irreversible.

Alvar was confused... "_What..."_

_"I will be back as soon as possible. Most likely within the hour. Take care of her needs, but please refrain from touching her." _He spoke much quicker than normal.

The Skitty was still confused, "_Umm... okay..."_

That was all he could get out before the clone vanished in a flash of white light.

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End of Chapter 17

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Thanks to **R.Y.N.O, Darkraifan462, and renigadeblade **for reviewing the last chapter!


	18. Chapter 18: Kidnap

Lots of Mewtwo. Yay.

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 18: Kidnap

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**Previously:**

When Lyric woke up in the morning, she was sick. Very sick. After some thinking, Mewtwo finally deduces that she is allergic to Alvar, or something on Alvar. He has no way to cure her, so he teleports away to go and get help, leaving the Skitty behind to care for her.

:::::::

When the white glare from the flash of teleportation faded from his eyes, Alvar looked back at Lyric.

_How close can I get to her?_

Mewtwo hadn't gone into any great detail before teleporting off to hopefully get some help. She did seem to have had a severe allergic reaction to him, so Alvar wanted to give her as much space as possible while still being able to watch over her.

She was turned away from the kitten on the bed and was still quivering. She must've been in pretty bad shape...

He decided to speak up, "_Lyric, do you need anything?"_

Alvar could see her faintly shake her head, so he trotted over to the stairs and set himself down in the center of the roof, satisfied, but still very wary.

Five minutes past, and after a quick check, Alvar saw that her quivering had stopped... that was a good sign at least. Another few minutes and the Skitty began to get worried. She had most likely drifted off to sleep... or was it unconsciousness... Or was it...

_No, I can't think like this. That won't happen, I'm sure of it. It can't happen._

He couldn't push the thought from his mind, however. The anxious Skitty looked out at the streets below, thoughtfully.

_Where are you Mewtwo..._

:::::::

As the wind blew through his face, he closed his eyes, waiting for the shock to wear off. He had teleported to the hospital after realizing Lyric needed some serious help... help from even humans; the race which he despised so much.

Mewtwo finally felt like the weak paralysis in his limbs was gone, and he levitated himself up and off the ground for a moment to cure his psychic abilities from the paralysis. It had been a classic case of teleportation shock: he had teleported from a warm environment, his home, to a cold environment, just outside the hospital. Because his body had absolutely no time to adjust to the temperature change, which was a little over half what it had been in the church, he found it caused mild paralysis. It only lasted a few moments and had no lasting effects, so Mewtwo didn't think much of it.

He looked up and examined the black and grey hospital, looming over the city. It was one of the taller buildings in the city, and the third tallest hospital in Kanto. He was hidden from sight in a patch of trees to the north of the hospital, but he couldn't stay here.

He needed a disguise; that is the first thing he would focus on. He didn't want to spend the brainpower thinking up an original form, so he looked around for any humans he could copy. Once he saw one walking down the street, close enough to make out details, he copied his form in a flash of white light.

Mewtwo had disguised himself as a brown-haired man, a little under 6 feet. Mewtwo noticed that he now appeared to be wearing a button-up shirt with no tie, and jeans. Mid-twenties, maybe. It was good enough for now, and Mewtwo needed to hurry.

The ability to disguise himself was very useful indeed. It was very hard to perfect; he still had problems remembering his disguise at all times. If he slacked off just a bit, it was slightly noticeable. The eyes slowly turn from brown to the unnatural purple. The skin pales.

The strange thing about the ability was that he had not actually _transformed _into a human. He was still one-hundred percent Mewtwo. If he tried anything a human could do with no problem, like sitting comfortably in a chair, he would most likely end up crushing his now invisible tail. It was also harder to make sure his tail wasn't lashing into things, as he couldn't see it.

_Lyric is very sick, _he reminded himself, as if making sure it stays in his memory. It's not like he would forget, but he was in too much of a hurry to dawdle over such thoughts.

Unfortunately, he had never been inside this hospital before, so he could not just teleport in. He exited the patch of trees he had hid in and loped over to the hospital. He hated pretending to be a human, it was extremely difficult to walk and make it look authentic. Mewtwo's legs did not work exactly the same as a human's.

He made due, however, and reached the door of the hospital. The door automatically slid open at his presence. He strode in, making sure to keep a steady, but not too speedy pace, looking for an information booth or something to answer his questions. There was too much white; white everywhere the clone looked. There were signs plastered all over with reminders on how to prevent sickness and how to kill germs, most of them seemingly made for children. The hospital, he noticed, smelled strongly of disinfectant and the white tile floor was unusually reflective. It procured a glare that shone in is exceptionally sensitive pupils.

As he raised his hand above his head to shield himself from the glare, his eyes caught sight of an auburn-haired receptionist at a desk in the corner of the room. As their eyes made contact, she smiled and greeted him. Without a word he strode over and put a hand on the countertop. "Which floor contains the patients with allergies?" He had almost forgotten to talk in a physical voice. That could've been a disaster...

"Allergies?" She looked down and ruffled some papers, searching for something. She settled on a single paper, and smiled as she found what she was searching for.

She looked back up at him, "Allergies are on the 6th floor. Were you looking to check in or..."

Her voice trailed off. Mewtwo had walked away, following a sign giving directions to the nearest elevator. She sighed and got back to her work.

Mewtwo reached the elevator, which was only a short distance away. The hallway had changed colors; it was now a deep cream color with a dark red stripe running through the center of each of the walls. The elevator was a beautiful gold, polished to a mirror shine. The disguised clone could see his human form in the reflective surface. It was strange to him, but he had used this ability many times before and he had gotten used to it.

He pressed an up arrow that was on a panel in front of the elevator. It lit up a neon green color and the clone stood back, waiting, resting on his invisible tail. From what was visible, it looked like a very uncomfortable position for a human, but it was in fact comfortable for the clone.

It took longer than usual for the door to open, which made Mewtwo nervous. His nerves were calmed, however, when he saw that no one was present in the elevator. The clone entered coolly, painfully jamming his tail on the side of the door as he did so. He let out a psychic cry of pain and cursed.

The pain lasted for longer than normal and he winced from the throbbing of his tail as he pressed the button labeled, "6."

_That would've been easily avoided if not for this accursed disguise... _It was necessary, so he did his best to will the pain away. The elevator hummed in movement and the clone leaned back against the wall. It was the same golden color in the interior; every wall. It was _too _gold.

The pain had faded as the elevator's whirring slowed to a stop at the sixth floor. Mewtwo had let his disguise slack, and as the door opened he immediately fixed it. A small group of people had entered in. They didn't expect anything, and Mewtwo edged his way around them quickly and stepped onto the white tile of what was the sixth floor. The sense of claustrophobia had slowly lessened as he distanced himself from the elevator. It normally wasn't a problem, but it worsened when he used his disguise. Most likely because he had to be ever-cautious of where his tail was at all times. More anxiety equaled more claustrophobia.

As he slowly walked down the hallway, looking for any information he could find on any of the many signs that cluttered the walls, he had a moment of weakness.

_Am I doing the right thing? What I'm about to do is... kidnapping. There's no better word for it._

He looked resolved, _of course it is the right thing to do. The subject won't remember anything afterward... I'll make sure of that... And Lyric..._

He thought back to her, remembering her smiling face and her beautiful amethyst eyes.

_I would do this for Lyric. I would do much worse for Lyric..._

It had only been almost a week, yet he felt like he had known her for months... as long as Alvar at least.

_And now this... After only a week, the only other one of my species gets sick from a severe allergic reaction... to my close friend..._

He frowned, _how can I be so unlucky... I had to pick a Skitty to befriend... the one thing she's severely allergic to._

Somehow, he found a way to blame himself for Lyric's sickness.

He sighed. _I shouldn't be so hard on myself... It's not my fault. It's just some terrible luck, or fate._

The clone then realized he was still slowly walking down the hall. He had completely zoned out... he tended to do that too often. His disguise had almost completely faded as well... luckily no one was around to see. He quickly fixed it.

There wasn't any useful information on the signs, so he decided on just walking in the room closest to him on his left.

_I don't have any time to be wasting. Lyric is sick._

The thought kept him going and he pushed open a door awkwardly with his three-fingered paws, disguised as normal human hands. It was white in the small room, but a shadowy white. The television up in the corner of the ceiling was on, but not very loud. It wasn't even loud enough to distinguish any words. There was a feeble, emaciated man in a white gown lying on the hospital bed sleeping. He was slightly curled up facing away from the clone, covered in hospital blankets. Mewtwo couldn't see any features to further the examination of the man. His hair and entire head was covered by a pillow, like he was trying to block the world out of his mind, and the way he could hear the man breathing confirmed that he was sleeping. It was a peculiar sight, actually. A short distance to the left of him there was a nurse, writing something on a paper attached to the wall, her back turned away from the clone. She had brunette hair, and was a little shorter than average at first glance.

_Perfect._

He took a step closer to her. She turned her head around when she heard the unavoidable sound of Mewtwo shuffling his feet and smiled. "Oh, hello. Are you here to visit?"

Her smile seemed to light up the room. It was very kind and warm. It conveyed years of wisdom, but at the same time it conveyed how young she was. Mid-twenties maybe.

He took another step forward, dismissing all thoughts about her. "You will come with me."

Her expression didn't change and she paused a moment before replying, "Of course. What do you need?"

Mewtwo frowned. An unusual reaction from one who has just been psychically forced to do something. Had it worked?

_Of course it worked. Why wouldn't it have worked?_

"Do you currently have anything that could fight a severe allergic reaction?"

She questioned innocently, "What kind of allergy?"

He gazed at her coldly in response, "The pokemon known as Skitty."

"A feline allergy?" She responded after a moment. "The hospital's current cure for allergies covers a wide range of different types. I'm pretty sure cat is included in there." She had let her eyes wander to examine the rest of his form, but then snapped back to make contact with his eyes. "You say severe?"

He nodded solemnly in response.

She answered with another nod, "It shouldn't matter how severe the reaction is, just how much it's progressed. I think I actually have some..." She turned and began rummaging through what looked like a metal cabinet on wheels to the right of where she was standing. She tossed aside multiple white bags containing something before finally grabbing hold of a single one. "Here it is!" She inspected the label. "Methylisophate Trimonium. It lowers the amount of glycoprotein in the bloodstream when injected directly. It should fairly rapidly clear up the allergy if it is not to far progressed." She looked at him with a worried look, "it is actually fairly complicated to distribute though... It requires extensive preparations-"

She stopped speaking when the disguised Mewtwo raised a hand for her to cease. He turned his body, avoiding another nasty bump of his tail, and walked into the tiny bathroom to the left of him, motioning for her to follow. She obliged, quite confused, and followed him into the now crammed bathroom. It was the same color as the room, a dull creme color.

_I will definitely need her assistance distributing the medicine if it is as complicated as most allergen injections are..._

The claustrophobia was edging back into the clones mind, but he dismissed it. Entering the bathroom was necessary for complete isolation for what he was about to do... no one could see.

As she neared him, a questioning look on her face. He put a paw on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes, his own eyes briefly flashing amethyst as he did so.

They then disappeared in a brief flash of pure white energy.

The room was now empty and silent, save the quiet, but raspy breathing of the man lying on the bed, his head still covered by the white hospital pillow.

His eyes were wide open.

:::::::

End of Chapter 18

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	19. Chapter 19: Change in Plans

:::::::

Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 19: Change in Plans

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**Previously:**

Leaving Lyric and Alvar behind, Mewtwo teleported to a nearby hospital to carry out his plan to save her and find a cure to her allergy. He found a nurse who seemed to have what he was looking for, and he did what he had to do...

:::::::

_Hurry up Mewtwo..._

The kitten was still sitting up on the roof, waiting for Mewtwo to return from wherever he went, presumably to get some help. He sporadically checked unconscious body of the female Mewtwo, but couldn't get close enough to check to see if she was worsening or improving.

He finally closed his eyes to rest them. _It will all be better once Mewtwo gets back._

:::::::

Something was not right.

Instead of his intended destination in Vermillion City, he had teleported with the nurse into the tiny, ghost-ridden town of Lavender. This had never happened before.

The only way this could happen was if there was some kind of outside interference, or if he was just overly stressed out, or Even though Mewtwo figured it was the latter–he was kidnapping a nurse... He made a quick psychic scan to see if there was any interference. He almost stumbled back when he sensed an unbelievably strong psychic signal emanating from somewhere. He could tell it wasn't living–it didn't have an aura. It was, however, an extremely strong signal. The signal was coming from Viridian City, and it seemed like it was searching for something.

_How long has this signal been there?_

Mewtwo hadn't made a psychic scan in a few days now... he had been too caught up in the problems with Lyric.

The clone made up his mind.

_I will investigate this later. I have more important things to focus on._

Right now, he needed to focus on calming the nurse who was still by the clone's side, freaking out over the fact she had just teleported.

"Where the _hell_ am I!"

Her back was turned from him, she was inspecting her surroundings.

"What the hell just–"

She had turned around and started staring at Mewtwo. He had forgot to put up his disguise.

_Damn it..._

It was useless to disguise himself now.

"What..." Her mouth was agape in complete astonishment, her eyes wide open, staring at the alien, feline form of the clone.

Mewtwo dismissed her and also inspected his surroundings. He was in the middle of the town, but luckily, like always, people rarely go outside in Lavender Town, so no one had seen them. The town was known for it's dreariness–it was mostly gray, with a few spots of purple dotting some buildings. The Pokemon Tower loomed over the town–it was the only outstanding feature of the entire area, besides the fact that there were tan rocks of varying sizes everywhere. The place was barren and empty.

"Who... are you?"

She was just as awestruck. They needed to get to where no one could see them before Mewtwo could answer her questions. He levitated them both over behind a few large rocks a short distance away, trying to ignore the woman's shouts that she was flying.

As he set down on the ground along with the woman, he tried to quiet her, "_Will you please be silent?"_

That shut her up, if only for a moment.

"You can talk?" Her mouth was agape again.

"_Yes, I have the power of speech. Will you please refrain from questioning until we arrive at our destination?"_

"Your mouth isn't moving..."

Mewtwo sighed, it was useless. He didn't have time to answer the questions of the nurse–he would do that once they got back to his home.

_That signal must have interfered with my brain waves... I cannot teleport properly now. Even though it is unbelievable, that signal was strong enough to do so. If I teleport again, who knows what will happen._

Luckily, the only thing the signal interfered with was his teleportation, it being the most complex ability he knew.

He would just have to settle with levitating.

He picked them both up off the ground again with his powers. A wind had picked up and he had to compensate. The wind was from the east, and it brought the smell of the sea along with it. He ignored the woman's cries once more, and began for Vermillion, keeping the nurse a short distance away from him. If he went at full speed, it would not take very long to get there–maybe an hour.

He sped through the air a few hundred feet over a huge quarry of rocks. It was daylight, but no one was around to see them. After a few minutes, the woman had quieted and was just gazing down at the landscape surrounding them. Luckily she didn't have any fear of heights.

The only thing Mewtwo could think about was Lyric.

Hopefully Lyric was still okay...

:::::::

_Half an hour earlier_

:::::::

Giovanni groggily answered the phone from his bed.

"Yes...?"

"Giovanni, this is Robert. Sorry about the early hour, but I think I've finished something you might like. Would you come down here?"

The Rocket boss glanced at the clock. It was 6:30 a.m. Not horrendously early, but early nevertheless, and if Giovanni knew Robert, he would only act like this if it was something Giovanni would _really _like. The past few days had gone well. The computer had completely searched three cities, and now was searching Pewter City. After Pewter it would search Vermillion City and then if nothing was found then... It would search all of Johto. If he had to, he would wait months to find this female Mewtwo. He had other things to work on in the mean-time anyways.

Robert had been working on something the past few days, Giovanni had noticed. He must have finally finished whatever it was. Maybe it could cut down on some of the time in finding this pokemon.

He got out of his bed and suited up. He was excited for whatever it was that Robert had in store for him, so he hurried the process of getting ready a bit. It only took him 20 minutes to get completely ready. With a quick call for the chauffeur, in a few minutes he was in the automobile and on his way to the warehouse.

The next few minutes went by fast and he was walking down the staircase towards the large gray door of Robert's warehouse. Apparently, Robert knew he was coming, because the door opened before he had even finished descending the stairs. Robert was there and greeted Giovanni, "Hello, Giovanni, glad you could make it. Trust me, you will like this."

The Rocket boss reached the doorway and stepped through it. "Lead the way, Robert." He entered the cold, gray warehouse, following Robert to one of the far corners of the room. They stopped and checked the large computer on the way over. Giovanni glanced over the screen as Robert explained, "Nothing in Pewter. Oh wait, look at that! A Marowak! Those are very rare." He turned to look at Giovanni, who was giving his best uninterested look. "No matter, I already have a couple anyways." He turned back to the large screen, "Now it's looking through Vermillion. It's a big city... should take a few days to complete, but it has been searching faster than I expected."

"Very good," the Rocket boss replied, nodding his head and continuing his walk over to the far corner, along with Robert. As they arrived, Robert grabbed something off the desk. It was another black, tiny device, but this time it looked like some sort of bullet.

"This bullet..." Robert started, "If we can get it in that pokemon of yours, our lives will be made easier by a hundredfold."

Giovanni waited for him to continue, "Well, how does it work?"

"It's basically a tracking device. I put a lot of thought into it." He smiled, "When we do find your pokemon, which we eventually will, it's not going to be easy to capture... It has the power of teleportation, Giovanni. If it sees us, even for a second... it can teleport away _anywhere _it wants to. Then, our entire search is restarted."

Giovanni nodded, he hadn't thought of that.

"If this is shot into it, I can track it from here no matter where it goes."

Giovanni frowned. "Wont that bullet kill it? I need it alive, Robert."

Robert raised his arm, "Hold on Giovanni, I'm not finished yet." He continued inspecting the bullet that was in his hands, "The bullet isn't made of any kind of metal, it's a strong, plastic casing. That means it will enter, but it wont exit. I'm sure your pokemon is strong enough to take a single plastic bullet..."

Giovanni nodded his head and questioned, "Wont it be able to get the bullet out?"

Robert just smiled, "Yes, I thought of that too. It was especially difficult to figure out."

He finally set the bullet down, "Do you remember that device I showed you a few days ago? The one that blocks all psychic transmissions?"

Giovanni nodded, so he continued, "I tried using that technology in this bullet, but whenever I shot the bullet from the firing mechanism, the device couldn't handle the pressure of the g-forces, and it stopped working. The tracking device also in the bullet worked perfectly, but the psychic blocker was busted. The problem was that it was much to complex, so I made a much more compact version of that technology and put it inside of our bullet. It doesn't do all the same things that device does, but it gets the job done."

Giovanni frowned again, "What doesn't it do?"

"The compact version makes it so the pokemon cannot remove the bullet with it's psychic powers. It doesn't completely block all mental activity, which would be nice... The only way it could get the bullet out is by some major surgery..." He paused and grabbed the bullet and another device off the table. He then set the bullet on the ground and pressed a button on the other device.

The bullet hopped an inch off the floor and made a clunking sound as it bumped against the ground. Giovanni's eyes widened–six arms had emerged from the bullet, so it now looked like an oversized jack.

"It's going to have to be a pretty major surgery..." Robert said with a mischievous smile.

Giovanni smirked, "Very nice..."

Although the psychic part wasn't completely necessary... the Mewtwo had not had anyone to teach it any psychic powers, unlike the male. It most likely didn't know how to use any of it's abilities. Unless... it met up with the other Mewtwo...

_Nonsense, _he thought to himself, _the chances of that are almost nil._

It didn't really matter–even if it had learned psychic powers, it still wouldn't be able to get the bullet out.

Robert picked the bullet up off the floor and continued, "Once we find that pokemon, we can shoot this bullet into it–then it will be a piece of cake to capture with all my other gadgets."

The Rocket boss sighed, "Once we find it... that could take months!"

"Yes... I'm doing my best Giovanni. It couldn't have run off far–we will find it eventually."

Giovanni nodded and gazed upon the screen. A recent 1-mile scan had been completed and another one had started. The results of the previous scan were displayed on the left side of the screen, as a long list of different pokemon. He gazed over the list. Robert had begun rummaging through papers at a nearby table.

_Rattata, Rattata, Raticate... Damn, there's a lot of rats in this city._

He skimmed down a bit.

_Growlithe, Houndour, Rattata, Rattata, Houndoom_, _Skitty... _He paused.

"Robert."

He turned around from the desk he was standing over, "Yes?"

"What does this mean?"

He pointed to one of the names in the list.

One of them was labeled, "?"

:::::::

End of Chapter 19

:::::::

Hopefully everyone understands whats going on with the timeframe. The scene with Giovanni and Robert takes place when Mewtwo is flying home from Lavender Town.

Please R/R.


	20. Chapter 20: A Cure

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 20: The Cure

:::::::

**Previously:**

For some reason, as he was teleporting back home with the nurse, something went wrong. He had teleported to the wrong place. Upon further inspection, Mewtwo found that there was a very strong psychic interference coming from Viridian that was messing up his teleportation (The signal was Robert's searching machine, but he didn't know this). Meanwhile, Robert invents something new—a bullet, that when shot into a target, becomes a tracking device that is immune to psychic powers. When entered in to the target, it can change so that several arms protrude from it making it near-impossible to remove without major surgery—surgery that Lyric won't be able to get…

:::::::

_Ah... Finally. Vermillion._

It was about noon as he soared in the skies alongside the silent and bored nurse.

The clone figured he should most likely make it so that they couldn't be seen to anybody down below, as they were now flying straight over the city, so he put up a cloaking field with his ability to disguise himself. The female didn't notice that they were cloaked, because they were both in the same field of disguise.

Finally, she spoke.

"This is Vermillion, right?"

"_Yes, this is where I live."_

"Wait, you live somewhere?"

He gave her an exasperated look. Did he look like a wild pokemon? He ignored the question, "_Once we arrive, I will need you to distribute the cure to one of my friends. She is very sick."_

She took out the white bag she had apparently put in her pocket somewhere along the way, being careful not to drop it. He could probably catch it with his telekinesis anyways.

"She has a cat allergy?"

"_Yes, a very severe one. I have a feline staying with me at the moment as well."_

"Oh, that's not good…"

She looked at the strange, alien pokemon. He had turned his gaze away from her, back on the ground to navigate. He was obviously distressed; this 'friend' must mean a lot to him. She was still angry that she was kidnapped, but less so, since he was only doing it to help a friend.

Sure, she had questions… A strange, telepathic, flying alien pokemon had just abducted her… but she did not think it was right to ask them. She couldn't help, however, asking just one question.

"Why didn't you just ask?"

He turned to look at her again, confused, "_What?"_

"Why didn't you just ask? I would've gladly helped if you just would've asked. You didn't have to go and kidnap me."

He turned away from her again. There was a long pause—at first, she didn't think he would answer her, but he finally did reply, "_I couldn't take that risk. I'm sorry if I hurt you in any way… All I want is for my friend to be healthy."_

She accepted this, and almost all her anger faded. He hadn't hurt her at all, only confused and startled her. _I could never turn down someone who's so desperate for help._

After a few moments, the pokemon spoke up, "_We are almost there." _The nurse noticed they had begun to descend. "_We will most likely arrive in a little over a minute."_

"Can you tell me more about how sick she is? Every little bit of information will help."

Mewtwo nodded and told her everything he had witnessed: the rash on her arm and leg, as well as the nausea and headaches.

After he had finished explaining everything he thought might help, the nurse replied, "Yes, it does seem like it's a feline allergy. I don't think it's gotten too bad though… I should be able to fix her right up with this injection."

Mewtwo gently touched them down on the ground, in front of the church that was his home.

"Umm… can't people see us…?"

There were people strolling by on the streets.

"_We are cloaked from their view."_

She stared at the clone incredulously, "What can't you do?"

He managed a small smirk… or was it a smile? "_There are many things I cannot do."_

Mewtwo was very glad the girl had enough sense to not go deeper into the questions… ones about his history, mainly. There were very few people he had given that information to, and he wanted to keep it that way.

They reached the steps leading to the attic, and began to climb them.

"You live in here? How'd you pull that off?"

"_The minister of this church is a very humble man. He knows of my presence, but I do not disturb the service he runs, so he allows it."_

They were about halfway up the long staircase when the door slid open to reveal the worried Skitty. He had luckily learned to use his basic psychic powers to work the door handle he couldn't reach. Apparently, Alvar had heard them coming up the stairs.

"_Mewtwo… Why didn't you teleport?" _He forgot his question and his eyes widened when he saw the woman, tromping up the stairs behind Mewtwo, trying to see around his lashing tail.

She was surprised, "Another talking animal!"

Alvar didn't respond, most likely trying to figure out if the clone had kidnapped the woman, or gotten help. She didn't seem to be struggling, so the kitten assumed the latter.

"So where's the patient?" She asked as she stepped into the attic behind Mewtwo, who was already walking over to the bed to check on Lyric.

"_She fell unconscious a while ago, Mewtwo. She's been like that ever since."_

The nurse finally saw the pokemon on the bed, unconscious. She was surprised, but not too surprised that it was of the same species as… 'Mewtwo,' as the kitten had called him.

_They must be mates, _she thought to herself. It seemed a viable option.

"_Despite what you may think, we are not mates._" Mewtwo almost shouted at her, sternly, turning around from the bed to give her a disapproving glare.

She just stared back at him speechless, looking at the clone with wide eyes. _Mind-reading? _He heard a chuckle come from the kitten, "_Not for long…"_

Mewtwo spun on his heels to face the Skitty, "_Alvar! I have not even considered it!"_

Both the nurse and the kitten burst out laughing. She couldn't help it, it was too hilarious to resist. Mewtwo noticeably blushed, giving them a glare that could kill before turning around and tending to the unconscious female lying on the bed.

The laughter died down rather quickly—they both realized that it was probably time to tend to Lyric… The longer they waited, the less likely the cure would work on her. She approached Mewtwo at the bedside, who was kneeling by her, watching her.

The nurse noticed the female's pale white arm. She had a very bad rash covering most of it, and infection had begun to make it smell foul.

The nurse took out the white bag with the injection inside and opened it. She carefully pulled out the needle and a few other small items that came with it. She turned to look for the kitten, and saw him still over by the door.

_Oh right, she's allergic to him._

She began to get the injection ready to use.

"Mewtwo, I need to put this tourniquet around her arm to stabilize the blood flow. Is that okay?"

He seemed disturbed that she had used his name, and he most likely was still angry at her as well as the Skitty, but he nodded.

She applied the tourniquet she had gotten from the white bag, and was about to grab for the needle, when she paused.

"Uhh… I'm not a veterinarian… Do you know if the veins in your species' arms are the same as in a human's?"

Mewtwo had a confused look; he was versed in human anatomy, but ironically, did not know as much about his own anatomy.

"_I am not sure… I would think so."_

She nodded, and assembled the intricate parts of the injection expertly. She was careful not to slosh around the fluid in the small vial as she pushed it into place. After a few more adjustments and a check to see if any oxygen was left over in the needle, she gestured that she was ready.

The clone scooted back a bit, "_Please be careful."_

She nodded and readied the tip of the needle above the still sleeping female's arm. Very gently, she inserted the needle, trying to find a vein. It entered the skin smoothly and silently, and didn't seem to disturb Lyric whatsoever.

She spoke up, "I think I found a vein."

She slowly pushed in the contents of the vial into her bloodstream until it was empty, and then swiftly pulled out the needle.

"That should do it," she said somewhat nervously, unwrapping the tourniquet. She turned to look at Mewtwo.

He was still staring at the pokemon on the bed, as if waiting for her to wake up.

"It's probably not going to have any effect for another hour. She'll probably wake up then."

He finally looked at her and began to walk over to where the nervous Skitty was watching them. She followed.

"_Will she have to continue getting these shots?"_

She smiled, "No, actually. That injection is a one-time thing." She turned back to look at the bed. "I think it's amazing, really. It was only invented a few months ago by some genius of a doctor. Completely cures all of the common allergies."

She smiled wider, "…And it's quite expensive…"

Mewtwo looked embarrassed, and walked over to a shelf and grabbed something.

"It's nothing really; it's not like I'm paying for it or anything—"

She stopped when she saw the huge ruby he held out to her. It was as big as a golf ball and shone a brilliant deep red even though the only light in the room was coming from the window on the opposite side of the room.

"_Take this; it should pay for the injection, as well as my gratitude for you doing this. And… regret for taking you against your will."_

Alvar's eyes widened. He had thought Mewtwo had asked her… She didn't seem to mind though, and Mewtwo was obviously sorry, so the kitten let it go.

She was taken aback. That gem must be worth a _fortune._ "Oh, no, you don't have to… I can't take…"

"_I insist." _He continued holding the ruby out to her, cradled in his three-fingered paw.

She put one hand out and he dropped the ruby into it. "_I find them on my excursions. I have plenty more, do not worry. I actually do not have much use for them."_

All she could mutter was, "Th—Thank you. You didn't have to…" continually gazing at the ruby that seemingly glowed in her hands.

Mewtwo pondered to himself. Sure, she wouldn't remember any of this when she left… he was still planning on erasing her memory. But… he felt generous today, and she put up almost no struggle whatsoever. She deserved the ruby.

Alvar hadn't said a word for a while, which was strange for the kitten. Mewtwo couldn't help but notice, "_Alvar, are you alright?"_

He was staring at both of them, "_I'm fine, Mewtwo." _He directed his gaze to the nurse, "_So… what's your name again?"_

She smiled at the kitten's innocentness, "My name's Maya. All my friends call me Mai." Her smile turned into a thoughtful look as she furrowed her eyebrows. "…And your name is… Alvar?"

The kitten smiled as well, "_Yup, Alvar. Thanks a lot for helping Lyric, Maya."_

"It was nothing. It's actually nice to get away from that stuffy hospital, even though they'll wonder where I was… I'll just make up a story."

She turned to look at Mewtwo, who was leaning back, listening to their conversation. "If anything else ever happens like this, just come and get me… Except next time… _ask_ Mewtwo…"

She gave him a smirk followed by a chuckle shared with Alvar. They both couldn't help but continue chuckling. Mewtwo was too lost deep in thought to smile.

_Hopefully there won't be a next time… Although if there was, she wouldn't remember me, so I will probably have to do the same thing. Except… she said herself that she would gladly come with him if I just would have asked…_

He shook his head; he hated thinking like this. Maya broke his thoughts, "So, is it alright if I stay to see how she does?" Not waiting for an answer she approached the bedside of the unconscious Lyric.

Mewtwo wasn't sure, he would rather not have strangers roaming around in his home, but Alvar answered for him, "_Of course it's okay, Maya."_

They spent the next twenty minutes sitting, waiting for the time to pass by until Lyric woke up. Alvar and Maya spent the time engaging in small talk while Mewtwo preferred to keep out of it. They all kept their eye on Lyric, whose rash had started to recede by a small percent. It had been about fifty minutes when they heard Lyric begin to stir.

"_Mewtwo, I think she's waking up!" _The energetic kitten shouted excitedly.

She indeed was, and all three of them rushed over to her bedside. She stirred for a few more moments before slowly opening her amethyst eyes. When she saw Maya, she acted surprised as she could without widening her eyes from grogginess. She didn't say anything, and Mewtwo spoke first, ignoring the presence of the nurse.

"_Lyric, are you feeling okay?"_

"_Yes, I'm fine…" _she replied, still groggy, and still staring at Maya.

Alvar noticed her staring, and replied, "_Lyric, this is Maya. She helped you get better."_

Maya smiled, "Hi there. You should be drowsy for the next couple hours—it's a side effect of the medicine I gave you. But, you will never have any problems being allergic to Alvar here, again."

A comforting sense of relief washed over her face. "_Thank you for helping me…"_

"You're welcome. Anything for someone in as bad as a condition as you." She turned to Mewtwo, who was silent. "Well, it was nice meeting all of you… but I probably should get back to the hospital. I can take a taxi; it's not that far away from here."

Mewtwo nodded, "_Very well. Although before you go..." _ He almost imperceptibly shuffled on his feet, "_I need to talk to you in private."_

Both Alvar and Lyric, who was slightly more awake, frowned. The kitten sternly stated, "_Mewtwo, if you're going to do what I think you're going to do, don't. She doesn't deserve it."_

Maya looked at them, confused. Mewtwo was slightly embarrassed, but he had made up his mind. "_Alvar, it has to be done. It is for the best."_

The clone began to spin away, when Lyric added, "_Mewtwo."_

He froze and turned his head to face her.

"_What did she do to deserve this? She has been nothing but kind to us and you would go and do this to her?" _She shook her head in disappointment. "_Tell me how you can justify your actions without sounding selfish and I will let you do whatever you want."_

Maya was still completely clueless as to what was going on.

It seemed like an eternity of watching Mewtwo try to think up an answer.

_How can I know that she won't give away information about us? That's not selfish of me for worrying about our safety, is it?_

He finally sighed, knowing he was beaten, and turned to Maya. "_Very well. Thank you very much, Maya, for your help. I only ask that you do not tell anyone about what you have seen today. There are some people who would most likely want to capture us for their gain."_

"Of course, Mewtwo; I would never tell anyone. You have my word."

Looking into her eyes, the clone saw the most sincere look of truthfulness he had ever seen. She was telling the truth. Looking back, he probably couldn't have erased her memory anyways…

_Do I really have that soft of a heart?_

"_Thank you once again. Do you need help hailing a taxi?"_

She smiled, "No, I'll be fine. Hopefully I'll see all you again. Well… Not hopefully, because that probably means one of you is hurt… Ah… you know what I mean!" Her smile widened and she started for the steps. Lyric and Alvar both said their goodbyes and Maya waved goodbye as well and she walked out the door and begun descending the staircase.

Lyric, still lying in her bed, flopped her head back in exhaustion. "_I'm so glad that's over with. That allergy was the worst…" _She turned to look at the Skitty playfully, "…_And to think it was all caused by a little furball like you…"_

That got a laugh out of Alvar and a partial smile out of Mewtwo.

"_I'm glad it is over as well. Are you feeling better yet?"_

She nodded her head, "_My headache's gone, and I don't feel very nauseous at all." _She looked down to gaze upon the rash on her arm. The infection had gone and it was receding even more. "_It looks like my rash is going away, too."_

"_It should be gone by tomorrow."_

Lyric smiled, which was a comforting sight to the male clone. "_Does that mean that I can resume my training tomorrow?"_

Mewtwo smiled again, "_If you wish."_

:::::::

Giovanni and Robert both stared at the ominous '?' on the screen.

"I'm not sure what that means, Giovanni. I've never run across it before… If your pokemon is a Mew, than that should show up here… not as this question mark. This makes no sense—"

"It's not a Mew…" Giovanni replied sternly.

"What? You told me…"

He discontinued when he saw Giovanni shake his head. "We cloned it from a Mew. It is a more powerful and advanced version."

Robert looked back at the screen, staring at the unwavering piece of information. He clicked on the label, and a box appeared, but everything about it, all the information was unknown.

He turned back to the Rocket boss, "Giovanni, I think we found your pokemon."

:::::::

End of Chapter 20

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Glad that that chapter arc is over. I hope I didn't rush it.


	21. Chapter 21: Embedded

This chapter marks a turning point in the story. Things are going to take a unique turn, and I can't wait to see how it turns out!

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 21: Embedded

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**Previously:**

Mewtwo arrived home with the nurse, Maya, with hopes that a high-tech injection that she brought could completely cure the allergy that Lyric had been afflicted with. After giving the unconscious Lyric the injection and waiting an hour, she finally woke up. Amazingly, the rash did actually recede and Lyric was already feeling better. Mewtwo's plans to erase Maya's memory of ever encountering him were stopped short by Alvar and Lyric, who strongly disapproved. They said their thanks and goodbyes, and Maya went back to her work at the hospital. Meanwhile, Robert and Giovanni have finally discovered the location of the pokemon that has been eluding them: Lyric.

:::::::

(**Note:** this next scene takes place while Mewtwo is still flying home from Lavender town, but it's about 30 minutes before he arrives)

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"You're one-hundred percent sure?"

Robert eyed the rocket boss warily and replied, "Giovanni, I can't be certain, but the machine would never give out an error like that… unless the pokemon doesn't exist, or is… man-made. If your pokemon was cloned, all the pieces fit together. It's got to be it."

Giovanni nodded. "So, this is Vermillion. Where is it in Vermillion?"

Robert looked at the screen, examining, "Well, it's about three miles away from the gym right where this map is centered, and it looks like the pokemon is in a…"

He pressed a few keys on the keyboard and clicked on the mouse. He then turned to look at Giovanni once he had his answer, "… It's in a church…"

"A _church?_"

He pressed a few more keys. "Yes, and there is a Skitty in close quarters with the mystery pokemon—inside the church also.

"Why the hell…"

"Yes, it's very odd… But all the signatures I'm getting from the church are your pokemon, the Skitty, and another human signal. I'm guessing it's the pastor."

"That's good. Less resistance…"

Robert stared at the screen in amazement, "If that's actually your pokemon… I can't believe we found it so fast."

Giovanni smirked, "Yes, this technology is amazing Robert."

There was a moment of silence before Giovanni broke it, "Which church is it exactly? I'll need to know how to get there."

"It's… Christ Methodist Church—on the corner of 6th and Broadway. I can't get the address number…"

"I can find it with that info, Robert. Christ Methodist Church—6th and Broadway. I'm also going to need those gadgets you created… they will be very helpful."

"Oh, yes. Of course."

He strode to the table and grabbed the bullet and the firing mechanism, along with the small black device that supposedly blocked psychics from using their abilities.

As Robert handed the items to him, the Rocket boss spoke, "I am going back to my base to get a team ready and plan a mission to capture this female Mewtwo before it runs off and we can't find it. Thank you very much for helping me, Robert. You don't know how much I appreciate it. I could pay you if you'd like…"

"Oh no, Giovanni—anything for a friend."

"Well thanks again."

Robert nodded, and then added as Giovanni turned and walked away, "Tell me how the mission goes!"

Giovanni didn't reply, and walked out the huge gray door with a bang.

Twenty minutes later, Giovanni was back in his office, sitting on his chair, making a phone call to his receptionist.

"Hello? Yes, I need you to set up a meeting for… 12:30 p.m. All staff should attend. You'll find out what it's about when you attend it! I'm busy!"

He slammed down the phone and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. It smelled like cigars in his office, which was strange, since he doesn't smoke. Leaning back, he also noticed that the room looked too brown… Brown shelves, brown walls, brown carpet…

_No matter._

He wheeled over in his chair to his computer. Now all there was to do was wait for the meeting, which was about thirty minutes. Enough time to look up the address of the church that was their destination. After looking it up and writing it down on a sheet of paper, he reread some of the files pertaining the Mewtwo project to waste time.

In about twenty minutes, the phone rang again. Giovanni pushed himself over to the phone and snatched it up.

"Hello?"

"Giovanni, the meeting is ready, and everyone is gathered in the meeting hall for you."

"I'll be right there."

He set down the phone and got up from his chair, adjusting his tie as he did so.

_Meetings…_

He didn't mind speaking in public—he had done it too many times to be afraid of it, but he didn't love it either. This, however, might have been the most important meeting he had held yet.

He slowly made his way to the door, still trying to fix his tie, which felt uncomfortable to him. Finally content with it, he reached for the door knob and twisted it, opening the door. As he walked down the hallway towards the meeting hall, he noticed that no one was around. They were most likely all at the meeting already.

After a minute of walking he finally reached the entrance of the meeting hall. The room had no door, just an opening, so he could hear the random chatter of all the Rockets before he even entered the room. He finally did enter, and everyone silenced themselves when they noticed him.

The room was dark blue mostly—long, and dimly lit, but there were enough lights to see where you were going. There were chairs set up, filling most of the large room, and there was a path down the middle, leading to the front of the room where Giovanni would be speaking. He had to walk down the path to get to that place, and he could feel the eyes of everyone on him as he did so.

He took a deep breath and turned behind the lone podium centered at the front of the room. Everyone was sitting there, staring at him, but it didn't bother him.

"Ladies and gentlemen—thank you for taking the time out of your busy days to come to this meeting today."

You could hear a pin drop. Everyone had their eyes on him, listening with rapt attention. He was pleased—he was actually successful as a boss.

"I have a new mission to plan—one of great importance. Does everyone remember the Mewtwo project?"

Some murmuring started as the Rockets communicated with the people around them wondering whether they remember it or not. It died down quite quickly.

"It was a little over half a year ago. Our scientists cloned a Mew, the rarest pokemon in the world, and succeeded. The clones were even more powerful than the Mew, and as a result, one of them broke free of our grasp and fled. Sadly, we have no clue where it is right now. The other clone was supposed to be exterminated, but wasn't, and it is also on the run from us. But… We have the exact location of it."

There was more murmuring and Giovanni had to quiet everyone down this time.

The machine Robert used to find the female clone didn't have any information about the Mewtwo race, obviously because it doesn't literally exist. It could however, tell what gender it was and what type of pokemon it was. It was a female psychic, confirming the fact that it was the female they were looking for.

Sure, the male Mewtwo was more powerful, and would be even better to capture, but it was probably long gone by now. It knew how to fend for itself. Unlike the female, who was born into the world a fugitive. It would most likely be ten times harder to catch the male, seeing as it knew how to use its psychic powers. That device that Robert had invented should take care of that however… No matter, the female was the one that they were after in the first place, and that was the one they would capture. It was powerful enough.

The worst case scenario would be if the male and the female met each other, and then developed a strong bond, but if the female wasn't with it by now, it was very unlikely.

_Maybe it's the best case scenario… I could take the female hostage, and then capture the male as well if he gives himself up…_

He noticed he was still speaking in front of the entire Rocket body.

He cleared his throat, as if it was an apology for the long pause, "Anyways, I would like to inform you all of the plan."

His words perked everyone up, "First of all, I need Team Rocket's best sniper to meet me afterward."

He had no idea who the best sniper was, but he knew that there was an exceptional sniper working for Team Rocket. He was definitely needed for the mission. The sniper would have to go to the church, camp on the roof of a nearby building, and shoot the clone with the bullet that Robert had created, putting a tracking signal inside of it. This way, if it tries to run, then it will be simple to track it down again.

To make sure there wouldn't be any mistakes, Giovanni ordered another Rocket equipped with a camera to go with the sniper and record everything that happens. Things have gone wrong for Team Rocket too many times because of a stupid mistake.

After that was done and the bullet was implanted in the clone, they could simply break in to the church and take the pokemon. Simple as that. He continued on with the meeting, telling everyone his plan.

An engineer got the blueprints of the church online, and Giovanni looked it over. There was a main cathedral, and there was an attic. The Rocket boss guessed that the pokemon was in the attic, and shouldn't be a problem to get too.

Not many things could go wrong… The pokemon could flee, but it shouldn't be a problem with the tracking signal. It will probably be passed out or seriously hurt from that bullet anyways, and won't be in any condition to be running or fighting.

It was a simple plan, and the meeting didn't drag on for long. Giovanni said a few closing words, and the body dispersed, mingling with conversations about what was to come.

Everyone would have to wait until the sniper had done his job, and then they could act, so Giovanni headed back to his office in wait for the sniper to arrive.

It only took a few minutes until a dark figure stepped through the door he had purposefully left open.

"Are you the sniper?"

"Yes sir, Class 1 Professional Marksman sir."

He was obviously a military man—all the better. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt covered by a black jacket and covering his legs were dark blue jeans. His hair was short, black, and spiky, and his face held a hint of Asian heritage.

Giovanni explained the plan to him and handed over the bullet and the firing mechanism. Robert's design had allowed it easily converted into a sniper rifle, and the sniper agreed that the weapon was acceptable for his job.

"I am sending someone along with you to film your actions, just to make sure something doesn't go awry. This isn't an option—I can't have any mistakes."

The sniper nodded, he didn't seem to have any problems with that.

He gave him directions to the building that he could get a clear shot from across the street from the church, and wished him luck.

"Thank you sir, I will do my best."

"I'm sure you will. But just do me a favor, don't kill it, and don't miss. I only have one of those bullets, and it's a really complex piece of machinery. Oh, and also…"

He reached over and grabbed a black box over his desk. There was a small black button in the center. "When you do get the bullet into your target, just press this button. It makes it tougher to remove."

The sniper nodded and took the box from the Rocket boss, putting it in his pocket. With that, he turned and left. Giovanni leaned back in his chair, satisfied. If this sniper was as good as he thought he was, then this plan would go smoothly.

:::::::

They pulled up in the driveway of the empty warehouse across the street from the church. The sniper got out of the sleek black car along with the man that was with him.

"Is this the place?"

The man had his camera with him and was fiddling with it with the utmost care.

"Yep."

He grabbed the suitcase that contained his gun and bullets he would carry out the mission with and headed around the back of the warehouse.

It was an ugly brown building, the color faded and graffiti splattered all over the walls. It looked as if it had been abandoned for years.

Luckily, there was a ladder reaching the roof around the back of the warehouse, and he carefully scaled it, followed closely behind the cameraman. They both pulled themselves up and observed. There were a few metal objects that must have served as smokestacks, but other than that, there was nothing. They were only a few stories off the ground—more than high enough for what he needed to do, and the empty warehouse was across the street from the church. It wouldn't be an easy shot, but it wouldn't be overly difficult. There was no wind, and none forecasted for today, so he should be good in that area.

"When should I start filming?"

"Like I care."

The man shrugged and pressed a button on his camera to begin filming. The sniper just sighed, walked to the edge of the roof and opened his briefcase to begin setting up his gun.

The target had been described to him as a tall, alien looking, feline creature. It was supposed to be purple and white—kind of hard to miss.

He loaded the bullet in with a sharp _click_ and set the small black box beside him. Apparently, he was to press the button after he had shot the target—He couldn't remember why though. Once he was in position at the edge of the building, he got down on his stomach and aimed the sight of the gun at the window of the church next door. He could see the cameraman in his peripherals get down on his stomach too beside him and film the window as well.

He would have to wait until either the target came outside, or he could get a clear shot. There were a few more things to prepare his weapon for use, like hook up some cables that were needed to operate the weapon for some reason. It was a very advanced firing mechanism. The sniping attachment was not fully hooked up and it was still a bit crooked. He was about to start getting it ready to fire when a feline figure, purple and white, stepped onto the roof of the church.

His eyes widened, _that's my target! _He scrambled to put the finishing touches on his weapon, but it was too late. The target flew away into the distance, cloaking itself as it did so. It hadn't seen him—it had flown away in the opposite direction.

"Damn it! I missed it."

He heard the cameraman speak up. "What, did you fire?"

The sniper turned his head to look at him in utter disbelief, "Are you kidding me?"

"…Did it come out?" He frantically searched the horizon with his camera, which had been pointed down as he was fiddling with it.

He just shook his head, "It came out, and I wasn't ready yet, so it got away. Weren't you filming it?"

"Well, I was… But I had to mess with a few things first, like... the resolution…"

The sniper sighed, holding back his anger, "That's fine, we'll get it when it returns. Hopefully it isn't too long."

The cameramen nodded and finished readying his camera as the sniper did the same. When they finished, they sat and waited. The sniper's eyes were on the horizon instead of the window, because the target obviously wasn't in the building anyway.

They were patient—the sniper a bit more than the cameraman, but they both kept their complaints to themselves. It wasn't very long—about fifty minutes, before their target came back.

He saw it as it uncloaked itself about fifty feet away from the church roof. He kept himself from getting excited and kept his heartbeat low as he took a deep breath and aimed his sights at the roof. The target seemed in a hurry, and as it touched down on the roof, it walked at a hurried pace toward the stairs leading to the attic on the other side of the roof.

The sniper was ready. He took aim, lining the cross-hair up with the target walking toward the stairs, and squeezed the trigger.

There wasn't a bang because of the silencer he had equipped onto the weapon, but there was a sharp _whip _sound that emanated from the barrel as the bullet sped out of it.

He smiled when he saw the bullet hit its target, exactly where he wanted it to: two inches to the right of the spinal column on the center of its back. It wasn't a killing blow—which was perfect. The creature dropped to the floor, its face twisted in extreme pain.

His smile changed to a frown as he realized the target hadn't made a sound. He could see it was on the ground and it was writhing in agony, blood spilling out of the wound onto the concrete roof. It was about a foot away from the staircase, and the blood had already begun to drip down to the attic below. Nevertheless, there wasn't a sound from it. Interesting…

It didn't change anything, so he reached for the small black box and put his thumb on the button, ready to press it down. He had a moment of compassion for the creature, which was now shaking, somehow trying to get back on its feet—even after a bullet to the back.

_No, I need to finish this._

He dismissed all compassion and pressed the button. As the bullet expanded inside of the creature, it dropped it to the ground again, in agony…

…But still, it didn't scream… not physically anyways…

:::::::

_A few hours earlier_

:::::::

"_Well I think she was the nicest human I have ever met."_

Lyric stared back at the kitten, who was smiling as he was conversing with her. Mewtwo was over in the kitchen area, making something to eat for early lunch.

"_The nicest?" _the clone responded, "_How many humans have you met, anyways?"_

"_Like _met _met? …Well… one… I've seen a lot though."_

Lyric chuckled, "_I'll have to admit, she was the nicest I have met also, but I have met more than one."_

She thought for a little bit longer and her face twisted into an expression of confusion, "_Wait… Alvar?"_

He had zoned out. _"Hmm?"_

"_You're deaf, right?"_

"_Basically."_

"_Well how were you talking to Maya then?"_

He looked up, as if in thought, "_That's a good question, and actually, rather hard to answer." _She was looking at him eagerly so he continued. "_You can't read minds yet, right?"_

She shook her head.

"_Well, whenever someone talks, what they say is being transmitted subconsciously through their thoughts. It's a lot easier with someone who thinks about what they say before they say it. The downside is that when I do read their subconscious thoughts, there's a ton of gaps, and it's hard to make sense of it, probably because no one really thinks about every word they say, just a summary of what they'll say."_

Lyric was confused, and her face showed it. Alvar caught this expression and continued, "_I know it's confusing… Maya, however, I could read her perfectly." _He sighed and smiled at the thought of her, "_Hopefully we get to meet her again."_

The female clone, still lying on the bed, smiled, "_So, you're basically not deaf, as long as you're around Mewtwo or me."_

"_Yeah, I'm like the most powerful Skitty on the planet!"_

Lyric let out a snort of laughter, but it was interrupted by the voice of Mewtwo, who had walked over with a plate, "_Reading people's minds is considered rude by many, Alvar."_

The kitten frowned, "_I didn't really have a choice! It's not like I'm going to tell her I'm deaf."_

"_Why not?" _Lyric added, wanting to join the conversation.

"_Umm… I don't know… It's kind of awkward."_

"_No it's not… she would've been perfectly okay with it and you know it."_

The Skitty sighed, "_Yeah, whatever. You're not the one who's deaf."_

Mewtwo handed her a plate, which had some sort of apple cobbler, or pie, or something on it.

"_This is breakfast?" _She commented as she dug in with the fork—quite a chore with her three knobby fingers.

"_I figured you would like something different. Do you like it?"_

She took a bite, and the aroma of the sweet, sugar-coated apple wafted in to her scent as she did so, "_It's amazing…"_

Mewtwo gave a plate of the same food to Alvar, and grabbed a plain apple for himself. She finished the plate rather quickly, and as she got to her feet off of the bed, she realized she didn't even have to be careful walking.

"_Mewtwo, I can walk fine. It's like the medicine has completely cured it already."_

"_I'm glad," _he replied somewhat morosely, without a smile. Sure, smiling was unusual for him, but there seemed to be something different about him. Something unnatural.

She walked over to the window and gazed out of it. It was open, in an attempt to get the lingering smell of sickness out of the small attic that somehow overpowered the scent of sweet apples.

"_Mewtwo, is something wrong_?" She asked without breaking her gaze from the window.

She heard him sigh, confirming her worries. "_Not exactly, It's just something I sensed while I was out with Maya."_

"_Well what is it?" _She inquired, urging him to continue.

"_I'm not sure… It was a signal coming from Viridian City, and it felt like it was searching for something."_

"_Why is that unusual?"_

He looked at her, somewhat intensely, "_I was in Lavender Town, and I could pick the signal up. It has to be unbelievably strong for that to happen."_

"_Why were you in Lavender Town?"_

He replied with the same gaze, "_That is another unusual thing about it. When I teleported to take the human back here, it must have interfered with my psychic activity. For some reason when I tried to teleport here, it __took me to Lavender. It's as if it sends me somewhere completely random. I don't want to take the risk of teleporting again until I investigate whatever is emitting that signal."_

Interesting… A signal more powerful than even Mewtwo could emit. Of course he would have to go and check it out. She chuckled a bit inside, "_Well go figure out what it is and stop it. You can't teach me how to teleport if you can't do it!"_

He smiled, "_Teleporting will be one of the last things you will learn. It is very difficult."_

"_Yeah, yeah. Can we continue training once we get back from your… adventure."_

She said the last word as if she was making fun of him for paying so much attention to something that was probably nothing.

He didn't seem to notice, or ignored it, "_Of course. I won't be gone long. At maximum, an hour."_

"_We'll be waiting."_

Alvar, who was just now finishing up his apple cobbler, spoke up with a mouthful of food, "_Bye, Mewtwo."_

He hurried up the roof and disappeared from sight in a matter of moments.

:::::::

He was excited to find out what the strange signal was; he couldn't deny it. As a result, he walked faster than he normally would. There wasn't any wind whatsoever as he ascended the steps to the roof of the church. The colder air did feel good on the clone's skin, however. He had been stuck in that room with the sick female clone for too long…

He walked over to the edge of the building and gently levitated himself into the air. Unfortunately, he couldn't just teleport himself to Viridian, he had to fly. He was in so much of a hurry that he forgot to cloak himself. Calling upon his abilities, he disappeared from view, probably much later than he should have.

It took only twenty minutes flying at full speed to reach Viridian City, and as he approached the tall skyscrapers, he had begun to acquire a headache.

The signal was louder than ever, pounding through his mind like a drum. Any psychic who lived in this city must've either moved out, or gone insane by now. It was so bad, that he almost couldn't detect where it was coming from.

After clearing his mind of all unnecessary thoughts and concentrating hard, he could get a good connection to it and followed until he reached where he thought the signal was coming from. He dropped the connection and sighed in relief as the pounding drums faded if only a little bit. The signal was still sending shockwaves through his psychically enhanced mind—almost to a point that he wished he wasn't psychic so he couldn't hear it at all.

He had arrived at a big gray building in between some ugly brown buildings. There was a somewhat short descending staircase leading down to a large gray door that led into the building. He did a quick aural sweep of the edifice, which was hard to do because of his headache. He almost jumped back in surprise when at the exact moment he felt a presence, a man opened the door and began ascending the stairs.

He remembered he was cloaked and silently sighed, stepping back to give the man room as he finished climbing the stairs and continued walking to the left, looking down at some papers he was holding the entire time.

The man was in his 60's—his face was very wrinkled, but he had an aura of wisdom about him. He must've been a scientist of some sort.

He walked out of view, and Mewtwo made sure he was completely gone before hovering down the stairs and approaching the gray door. This was definitely where the signal was coming from.

He unlocked the door from the inside with his telekinetic ability, and slowly and gently pressed open the door. That man had been the only presence in the building, so he should be able to enter and exit unnoticed—especially with the help of his ability to cloak.

The room that he entered was huge, and filled with electrical equipment. It reminded him for a brief moment of the lab he had grown up in. He shook the thought out of his head and examined the large, warehouse-like room in front of him, stepping forward and closing the door behind him as he did so. There were machines everywhere, of all different sorts and sizes.

The most prominent item in the room was a large computer monitor over to the right of his vision. A quick and painful psychic check made him come to a realization that the monitor was the source of the signal. It was turned on, but too far away to read what was displayed on it. After examining the room for a few more moments, he walked towards the monitor—close enough so that he could read what it said.

His eyes wandered before he could read it—they were examining the rest of the monitor. It was a computer, complete with a large keyboard and a mouse.

_What could one possibly need with this big of a computer?_

Most likely the processing power to emit the kind of signal that it was…

He finally directed his gaze at the screen, and blinked in surprise at what he saw. It was a map, but that wasn't the strange part. It was a map centered on the church Mewtwo made his home in.

There were three dots in the church. One that was moving around a bit was a dark gray, one was a light violet, and the last was black. It was then that he noticed the list over in the corner of the screen. A title that was only a question mark was selected, and it was directly under a title labeled 'Skitty.' He also noticed a large pop-up near the top with the words, 'scan complete' inside.

_They're searching for us…_

No, it was more than that.

_They've found us._

After staring at the monitor for a few more seconds in total shock, he finally realized how much danger that he and Lyric were in.

_Lyric…_

She was back at the church.

He spun around and jumped into action, racing over to the door and yanking it open with his ability. He had to get home as _fast as possible. _Lyric was in grave danger.

He was still cloaked as he zoomed up the staircase, levitating the whole way. He burst into the skies with the church as his destination. He had no time to do anything else; he needed to get home, _now._ They could already be there by the time he arrived…

It took him fifteen minutes at faster than full speed to get back, but he slowed down and sighed a breath of relief as he scanned the perimeter of the church, seeing nothing there. There was no one else in the church either—he found after another quick aural scan.

Anxious for no particular reason, he set himself down on the roof of the church and hurried over to the staircase. He was nearly there when he felt a splitting pain—a cold, hard bullet embedding into his back.

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End of Chapter 21

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Keep reading, and please review! Tell me how you like this chapter!


	22. Chapter 22: A Successful Mistake

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 22: A Successful Mistake

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Rediamond: Thanks for the detailed review. Yep, it's my first story—I'm surprised it's turning out so well myself. I read a ton before I wrote this also, which helped immensely. Also, thank you for the kind words; it makes it worth it to spend all these hours writing.

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**Previously:**

After finally finding the location of the clone he has been searching for, Giovanni went back to the Rocket headquarters and made a plan to capture the pokemon. Meanwhile, Lyric finished recovering from her sickness, and Mewtwo went to Viridian to find out what the strange signal that was interfering with his teleportation was. He found the computer Robert had used to search for the clones—it was showing their location. Mewtwo hurried back to the church to protect Lyric from any harm that could come to her, now that their location was compromised. As he arrived at the church, he was shot in the back by a sniper, with the bullet Robert made as a tracking device—the bullet that can't be removed.

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_The pain…_

That's all there was… pain.

As the bullet shot into him, he fell to the ground, screaming in his mind, and hitting hard on the concrete. It hadn't left his body, it had shot in and gotten wedged inside.

Through the searing sensation in his back, just right of his vertebrae, he managed to feel the blood trickling out of the wound.

_Someone had shot him. Who…?_

There was no way he could look around to see who. The overwhelming pain threatened to make him faint, so he managed to use Recover, to maybe stop the bleeding and close off the wound. It worked, and he could feel a bit of strength flooding back into his muscles. It wasn't enough for him to do anything but get on his hands and knees.

_I have to warn Lyric and Alvar… I have to get down there…_

But it wasn't over. It felt like something was exploding inside his body. The bullet expanded, thrusting its metal arms into his internal flesh, ripping the wound open. He screamed psychically in pain and dropped to the ground.

It started bleeding again, and if it continued like this he would bleed to death. Realizing this through the agony, he used Recover again, and let out a held breath as he felt the cooling energy flow through his body. It was a little less effective, but it closed the wound and stopped the bleeding, trapping the bullet inside. It didn't matter—he could just teleport the bullet out of his body later anyways.

The pain was still great, and Recover hadn't given him the strength to get up. He considered calling for Lyric and Alvar, but thought against it. It would put them in danger—for all he knew, the sniper had intended for a kill shot. He could be just finishing reloading by now.

He did have enough strength, however, to raise his head up to look around for the shooter. There was nothing in sight, and he dropped his head back to the ground. He used a third Recover, and this time it did almost nothing, save increase his strength. He could feel the bullet throbbing inside of him, only a short distance into his body.

Praying that nothing else would happen, he got on his knees again, the movement sending more pain into his limbs. He managed to keep his balance, and scoot himself towards the staircase leading to the attic. It was only a few steps away. Blood had pooled around him and had already begun dripping down the stairs.

The clone realized that there was no way he had enough strength to make it down the stairs, and he was still in too much pain to try to levitate himself. Wincing, he lowered himself down on his stomach carefully, to rest.

The pain subsided after a minute, and he found the strength to search the area for any nearby aural signals, but it was to no use. There were 20+ auras within a few blocks.

He had time to think.

_They know my location… I cannot stay here. But… who is they? Why didn't they just kill me?_

It didn't make any sense, but it didn't really matter right then. He needed to focus on regaining some strength to warn Lyric and Alvar about the danger they were in. Taking out the bullet would be the first step.

_What kind of a bullet was that anyway!_

The clone searched through his body with his mind to find the bullet, but couldn't find anything.

_That's strange…_

He searched again, but to no avail. He knew that it was in there—he could literally feel it, but for some reason, he couldn't sense it.

_That could only mean…_

His eyes widened in realization as he performed another scan for the bullet, but this time outside of his body. He had found something, but nothing like what he expected to find. There was a signal, emanating from inside his body, right where the bullet was located.

_It was a tracking device._

It was critical that he removed the bullet then. If he had a tracking signal _inside _his body, no matter where he went, they would always know where he was. Once again, that question popped up.

_Who is they?_

A surge of pain interrupted his thoughts, and after it subsided, he made a last futile attempt to sense the bullet. It was like it wasn't even there. If he didn't know the exact location of the projectile in his body, he couldn't teleport it out—it was impossible. Somehow, the bullet didn't have any type of physical existence… either that, or it could block his psychic sweep from locating it.

He shut his eyes in realization: it wouldn't be simple to manually remove the bullet either—the metal arms would take care of that.

_This was planned. Someone wants to track me… but why?_

After thinking about it some more, he managed to find some answers. If they could shoot him, they could've easily captured him. Right now, he was a sitting target. But… He had to admit that he could easily escape from them if they did try to capture them. He could easily teleport the three of them away in a blink of an eye, leaving the capturers speechless. Now this was impossible.

_I can't escape from them. I can't remove the bullet, so they can always find me._

He would have to run and continue running if he wanted to stay free.

Mewtwo had a little bit more strength, and the pain wasn't as bad now, so he tried levitating his prone body in the air. Slowly but surely, he got a small distance off the ground, concentrating hard. He positioned himself so he was in an upright position and made his way down the stairs gently. He could feel Lyric and Alvar's auras, but he was still relieved as he hovered through the passageway and saw them both sleeping—Alvar in the corner and Lyric on his bed.

He couldn't smile, or feel happy whatsoever, partially because of the pain that still lingered, and partially because of the thought that the people who were after them could be on their way right then.

Wasting no time, he called upon his teleportation powers, feeling the energy surge from his mind. The signal would most likely interfere with his teleportation again, but anywhere was better than the church. He set his wanted location to teleport to: Viridian Forest, and shut his eyes, pushing the teleportation energy to envelop the two sleeping pokemon still in the room. The energy climaxed and they disappeared in the blink of an eye—in a blinding flash of pure white light.

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"You got that all right?" The sniper looked at the cameraman with a smirk.

"Yep. Got it all. Good shot by the way."

The sniper shook his head. That was an awkward thing to say.

Everything had gone perfectly. The target had been right out in the open, he took the shot, hit exactly where he wanted to, and the creature lived. It couldn't have gone better.

_Giovanni will be pleased…_

They arrived back at the Rocket base after what seemed much too long of a drive, and both got out, without a word. They hadn't talked the entire trip—the cameraman had been fiddling with his camera the entire way there.

The hallways of the headquarters were packed with people for some odd reason that day, and it was annoying for them to navigate around people. No one payed any extra attention to them, which was preferred by the sniper.

Finally arriving at Giovanni's office door, the cameraman trailing behind him, the sniper brushed himself off to make sure he looked presentable. Without even knocking, the door opened and Giovanni was revealed—a slightly surprised look on his face.

"Oh, you're back so soon? I was just about to ask my receptionist if you had returned yet."

The sniper just nodded. Words didn't seem necessary at that moment.

"Well… did everything go according to plan?"

The sniper managed a smile, "Yes sir, everything went perfectly. I have video proof," he finished, motioning to the cameraman standing behind him."

"Excellent! May I see…?"

The cameraman stepped out from behind the sniper. They both entered Giovanni's office, and the cameraman hooked his camera up to the Rocket boss' computer. The three of them tentatively gathered around the computer as Giovanni opened the file.

He had to fast forward through many minutes of nothing, and the cameraman helped in telling where to stop. He pressed play and smiled when he saw the mewtwo he had been searching for uncloak itself and land on the building of the church. His smile faded, "I didn't think that it could use its powers yet…"

His smile still didn't return as he heard the _whip _of the gun being fired, and as he watched the creature hit the concrete and start to bleed. The sniper noticed this, "Giovanni, is everything all right?"

The Rocket boss didn't reply. Instead, he reached for his phone, and dialed a number, jerking it up to his ear as he did so. He wasn't paying attention to the video of the creature writhing in pain anymore.

The person on the other line finally answered. Giovanni kept his voice stern.

"Dr. Fuji? Get down to my office, quickly."

It was a short conversation, and Giovanni slammed the phone down the phone and leaned back in the chair. The sniper had stopped the video and was staring at him, but he didn't speak. The cameraman was looking at the both of them, confused.

It was about a minute of silence before there was finally a knock on the door.

"Come in," Giovanni answered the knock with his gruff voice.

The scientist named Fuji walked nervously in with his white lab coat still on. He looked very nervous, and obviously had no idea what this could have been about.

"You needed me, sir?"

Giovanni was still leaned back in his chair, "Fuji, you remember the mewtwos that we cloned?"

He nodded.

"Do you remember how you made a male and a female clone?"

He nodded again, nervously, "Yes, I remember it quite well."

"Can you tell me which one this is, then?"

He turned to the computer, rewinded a few seconds, and played the video. The scientist watched in confusion as the creature landed on the roof of the church and he winced as he heard the shot and the creature being hit, then finally, falling to the ground, writhing on the concrete.

The Rocket boss was staring at the scientist, expectantly. Fuji finally found his words, "Umm… well, based on its size difference and its coloration, I believe that is the male clone, sir."

Giovanni leaned forward in his chair, but kept the same stern look on his face. "That will be all, Fuji."

The scientist couldn't think of anything else to say, so he quickly walked out, escaping the awkwardness and sheer intensity of the room.

The sniper, hearing Fuji's words, had become even more nervous than the scientist had been. He broke the awkward silence, "Sir, I had no idea—"

"Don't worry," Giovanni interrupted, "You did just fine."

This changed the sniper's visage from nervous, to confused.

"But… didn't I shoot the wrong one?"

Yes, he had shot the wrong one, but after musing over it for a moment, through the overflow of new information, he realized this wasn't the worst thing in the world.

Here were the facts, some good, and some bad:

The male mewtwo was now living with the female, unless it was a completely insane coincidence. They most likely have developed a strong bond and were probably already mating by now.

Since they were living together, the female had probably learned to use her psychic abilities. Sure, Robert's device blocking psychic abilities voids that fact, but it was still a hindrance. The male was more powerful than the female clone anyways, so his reason to capture the female instead of the male was now also void.

Because of the tracking device now in his body, the male will most likely run from them, knowing that his location was compromised. It was expected of him, but luckily, will be fruitless. Team Rocket will know where he is at all times.

He will probably take the female with him, which is also very good for Team Rocket. Capturing one mewtwo would be great, but both of them?

The possibilities of having two of the most powerful pokemon in the world sent a shiver down Giovanni's spine—and now with Robert's new technology, they could be easy to control.

For only a moment, Giovanni wondered if he had done the right thing, sending the sniper to put a tracking device in. If he could've shot the clone to render it immobile, he could have captured it.

But could he have?

That was the big question: was the clone powerful enough to escape an attack by Team Rocket? Couldn't it just teleport away at the sight of any danger?

Giovanni could never be sure, and the choice had already been made anyways. He had chosen the safe route. The clone could never hide from them, and eventually, he would be captured. It was practically inevitable.

Remembering that the still confused sniper was standing there, he spoke up, "If the male mewtwo is there, that means that the male and the female are living together. If he runs, I am hoping that he will take the female with him. Even if he doesn't, he now has nowhere to hide. Sure, two mewtwos are better than one, but we weren't even going to attempt searching for the male beforehand."

Giovanni grimaced. He was referring to that murderous clone of a pokemon as a 'he.'

The sniper nodded, relieved that his mistake had good results. "I understand sir. Did you need me for anything else, sir?"

"No, that will be all. I commend you on your work."

"Thank you, sir," he replied and both the sniper and the cameraman exited the room.

Smiling, Giovanni leaned back in his chair. This would be easy now. All he needed to do was contact Robert about the tracking device, so he could learn the exact location of the mewtwo. Hopefully he could make some sort of portable device so Giovanni wouldn't have to return to his warehouse every time he wanted to check where the clone was.

Leaning back up in his chair, he reached over and picked up the phone to dial Robert's number. There was a few rings before the scientist picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello Robert, this is Giovanni."

"Oh, Giovanni! How did the mission go?"

"It was a complete success Robert. The tracking device is now in the pokemon and is hopefully transmitting a signal that we can pick up."

"Splendid! Hold on, let me check if I am getting it…"

There was a pause.

"…Oh… Yes I am picking up a signal! It is still loading the location… Well, it's more complicated than that… but that should be finished in a matter of hours. We will be able to see exactly where that Mew… er… clone of Mew? I think you called it that… We should be able to see where it is at all times."

Giovanni was pleased, but still had a few questions, "Robert, how will I be able to see the location of the clone? Do you have the info on a computer back at your lab?"

"No, actually I made a small, hand-held device, somewhat like a Global Positioning System, that is fairly portable, and picks up the signal. It will point you in the right direction."

The Rocket boss chuckled, "You know me too well, Robert. I will be coming over to pick it up soon, if that is alright with you. Do you want to come with me to capture the clone? It's the least I could do for all your trouble."

"Thank you Giovanni, I would enjoy that! I need a break from the lab anyways. I'm back at my house right now… I think I overworked myself."

"Alright, Robert. I'll be over soon."

With that he hung up the phone and leaned back again, taking time to bask in the glory of the situation.

The thought of capturing the clones kept running through his mind, creating a mischievous, unnerving smile that curved his lips upward.

_Nothing can stop me now._

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End of Chapter 22

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I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who is reading my story, and an extra special thanks to the few reviewers out there. I expected nowhere near the readers that I have, and it is a really nice encouragement to continue on writing.

Also, I'd like to promise you all right now, that I **will** finish this story eventually, no matter what happens. Unless I die or something.

My chapters are getting longer, hopefully this isn't a bother to some people. I personally like them long.

Big thanks to **Shinypokemanic, R.Y.N.O, Darkraifan462, and Rediamond **for reviewing my last chapter!


	23. Chapter 23: Missing

I think you all are going to like this one…

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 23: Missing

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**Previously:**

The sniper shot Mewtwo in the back as he was rushing to warn Lyric and Alvar that they're location had been discovereed, embedding the tracking device inside the clone. Mewtwo lived, thanks to his ability to heal himself, and worried that people were coming for him, desperately teleported away with Lyric and Alvar, knowing that his teleportation would almost certainly go wrong. Meanwhile, Giovanni finds out that the sniper shot Mewtwo instead of Lyric. The new information only encourages him, and he begins his expedition to capture the two mewtwos at all costs, with the help of the tracking device that Robert gave him.

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When the white light faded from sight, the first thing the clone noticed is that he was not in the Viridian forest. The second thing he noticed was that Alvar was not with him.

He only took a few moments to look around. He and Lyric were in a room. From the looks of it, a _children's _room. There were colors–way too many colors. The dressers were orange, a bed in the corner was a vibrant red, and the walls were a light blue. There were miscellaneous toys scattered all around, and a fan on the ceiling spun in slow circles, making an almost comforting whirring sound. No one seemed to be in the room, and the strange thing was that the lights were off ; it was almost pitch black. There weren't any windows in the room to let in any light. Luckily, Mewtwo's highly developed eyesight made seeing in the dark easier, although it was still a hindrance. The pain from the bullet now embedded in his flesh flared up since he was standing instead of levitating, but it was now tolerable. The Recover ability he had used multiple times had worked–even though the wound could have been deadly; it had left little more than a scar the size of a penny on his middle back. The flesh around the bullet and its arms had already healed, and the bullet was now basically a part of his body. If he was hit in the back, right where the bullet had entered, then maybe he would be in a great deal of pain, but he was not willing to test that theory.

_Is it nighttime?_

It had been in the middle of the afternoon when he had teleported the three of them away from the church.

The teleportation had made Lyric stir, as it was hard to sleep through. Of course, Mewtwo was glad that she was with him, but...

_Alvar is gone... Where is he?_

Lyric would have many questions–questions he would have to answer. The clone was quite sure even he would not know the answers to most of them.

_This happened much too quickly... How can this be happening?_

It seemed like a dream. One day, everything was fine. The next day, they were running for their lives, and Mewtwo's companion was now missing.

Standing in the middle of the room over Lyric, he noticed that she had woken up, but was still in the state where one does not comprehend the things around them. It took only a few moments for her to realize that she wasn't in the familiar church anymore, and her drowsiness seemed to completely disappear as her eyes widened in surprise.

After surveying her surroundings, she turned her head to look at the male clone, who had a morose, worried look on his face, "_Mewtwo... where are we? ...And where's Alvar?"_

He sighed. This would be hard for her–he knew for sure. Most likely, they would never be able to return to the church, because whoever was after them was probably patrolling it at all times. He couldn't take any risks now.

"Lyric..." He struggled to find the words–she had now continued staring at the dark, but colorful room. She had an almost awed look, as if she had never seen anywhere but the church before, and even through the darkness, for some reason she looked more beautiful than ever.

There was no logical explanation for it–Mewtwo, lost for words, just stared at her, his mouth unintentionally hanging open in a mixture of too many emotions to bear.

In the past few days, his emotions had waged war against his mind–he knew it started when Lyric arrived. It was a maelstrom of different emotions that he had never experienced before, and his instinctual response was to shut them away and hide them from the outside world like a professional.

However, whenever he looked at Lyric, he could feel the emotions inside of him, bubbling to escape the stronghold he had trapped them in. Right now, looking at the wonder mixed with confusion that Lyric innocently portrayed, combined with his lowered psychical defenses from the extremely traumatic events that had just occurred, Mewtwo felt like he couldn't control all these unknown emotions anymore. Half of him wanted to act on the emotions, even though he didn't know how to act on them, and the other logical half thought that this was absolutely not the time to be emotionally draining himself for no reason. Out of every moment in the past week, this moment would probably be the most out-of-place time to be worrying about emotions.

_Emotions are weaknesses. Look what happened to me when I last cared for other beings. I was almost destroyed from it._

Deep down, Mewtwo knew it was no use convincing himself to not care for Lyric–It had already gone much past that in his perspective. Each hour they spent together, he could feel their relationship for each other grow, even if it was platonic.

The logical side of him won over, and with great effort, he pushed his emotions back into himself as Lyric's amethyst eyes, now clouded in confusion, turned to meet his.

He swallowed the pooling saliva in the back of his throat before speaking to her, softly, "_Lyric... This is going to be hard to hear..." _She was looking up at him from the floor of the room, the confusion still shrouding her vision. "_We had to leave the church." _Her eyes widened, but he continued, and he did not stop until he was finished.

"_Our location was found, most likely by the people who created us. They must want us back for their own reasons. I teleported the three of us away, and because of the interference that signal is emitting, we ended up here. I do not know where we are. Also... Alvar is missing."_

He hadn't bothered telling her about the bullet and how it was a tracking device–it would only bring more unwanted heartache.

The tidal wave of information came crashing down on Lyric, and Mewtwo expected to either burst into tears–something along those lines, or go into total denial. He was having a mixture of both. Instead, her expression changed from confusion to understanding, and after a moment she softly replied, unwavering, "_What no_w?"

The male clone's eyes widened. How could she be so oblivious to the gaping chasm of danger they had been thrown into? From now on, both of their lives would be completely changed, and she acted like it was any other day. It almost infuriated him.

When she saw that he didn't reply, she added, "_Do you know where Alvar is?"_

His anger instantly faded when he looked back at her face.

_Do I know where the Skitty is?_

"_I believe his disappearance has to do with the interference in my teleportation. If that is true..."_

He looked down, his face in a mask of realization in worry, "_He could be anywhere."_

Lyric got up of the ground and stood, rubbing the pure white, light coating of fur that covered each of her arms with the opposite hand. It was a sign of nervousness.

All she seemed to be able to say was: "_Oh."_

The rage slowly returned to Mewtwo. Combined with the agitation and worry that swarmed his mind, it came back in full force.

"_How can you stand there and look like nothing has happened?" _She was taken aback by his sudden outburst.

"_How can you move on just like that when you know that everything your life used to be is now changed?"_

His voice was getting desperate. She stared back at him, not in fear, but in complete understanding, which only enraged him even more.

"_How can you still look at me like that... When you know that I failed you... I failed to protect you..."_

He buried his face in his hands, shuddering, every emotion finally pouring out–confusion, anger, despair, along with all the other unknown emotions. He clenched his teeth to make sure that no tears would fall.

The next four words he heard out of Lyric's mouth were the last words he ever expected to hear. They were the words he never dreamed of hearing, and yet they were the only words that he desperately needed to hear at that moment.

"_Because I trust you."_

He froze in place. The shuddering stopped as he comprehended what the female clone had said. She trusted him, after all she had been through–all the betrayal, all the heartbreak and pain...she trusted him. It was like a giant burden being taken off his shoulders. Finally, he had her trust, the one thing he thought he would never get.

His hands fell from his face and he looked into her confident amethyst eyes.

"_How can you trust me?"_

She actually smiled. Mewtwo wasn't angry this time, his emotions had already bubbled over. The only emotion he could feel right then was awe.

"_How can I not trust you?"_

Her voice was the sweetest he had ever heard it being.

"_After all you've done for me, you expect me to shun you away? How can I feel hopelessness when I'm around you? You are the most caring being I have ever met in my existence, and you would let no one harm me."_

The words hit him like a bullet. She thought that highly of him, all this time–everything she said was true, and he knew it.

He would do anything for her; he would give himself up again like he did the clones if she were to ever be captured. She knew this.

But how did they care so much for each other already?

Both of their heads jolted as they heard a noise. It was only a small tap, but it broke the silence that had settled over the still dark room.

Wondering what made the noise, they both took a step in the direction that the sound had come from. It only took a few more steps before the mystery was revealed.

Cowered behind a dresser in the corner of the room, a little boy was silently shaking in fear as he realized he had been discovered.

Lyric's heart immediately softened when she saw him; he was _terrified _of them–and had a right to be. Two huge aliens that could talk without moving their mouths had just teleported into his room.

As Mewtwo stared at the boy, wondering what to do, Lyric took a step towards him, slowly and carefully, "_Don't be afraid–were not going to hurt you."_

The boy stared at her, still quivering. He didn't reply.

She turned to Mewtwo with a warm expression, "_He must've been here the whole time. How did you not sense him?"_

The emotional toll of the recent conversation between him and Lyric seemed to be wearing off, and he looked embarrassed, "_I... did not think too... I had many other things to think about."_

She was smiling, "_It's okay, I understand. It's not like it would've changed anything anyways."_

The female clone redirected her attention back to the terrified child.

"_What's your name?"_

The child still didn't reply.She didn't have any experience with children; this was the first child she had ever talked to, so she couldn't figure out what to say and looked to Mewtwo for help.

Mewtwo was as clueless as she was. It was surprisingly his first encounter with children as well.

"_Maybe we should just leave, Lyric. We have no right to intrude on this boy's life."_

She nodded in agreement. It seemed like the best thing to do. The boy had stopped shivering and was now staring at them intently, but still obviously with fear, based on his expression.

"_You won't have to erase his memory will you?"_

"_No, I suppose I can leave him be. He won't know what to make of this, and no one will believe him if he tries to tell anybody."_

Even though the thought was disturbing, Lyric knew it was true.

"_Okay then... Why don't we find out where we are, and see if we can find Alvar? I can only imagine how he's reacting right now..."_

The thought only worried Mewtwo, who knows how that kitten will react to being alone again.

"_I don't know how we will find him. If my guesses are correct, because of the interference, he was teleported somewhere completely random, and I have no way of knowing where that could be."_

It was confusing, and it showed on the female clones face, "_But… why are we still together then?"_

He shook his head, "_I can only guess."_

They had both forgotten about the child still in the corner. Lyric looked back at him awkwardly, "_Well, I guess we'd better be going… How do we get out of here?"_

"_We are not teleporting again, that is for sure."_

She tried to think of something, looking up at the ceiling as she did so, "_This kid must have parents, and we wouldn't want to wake them up."_

"_Actually, I'm fairly sure it's daytime. I do not know why this child appeared to be sleeping."_

"_Maybe he's taking a nap?"_

"_Perhaps."_

They'd overstayed their visit, and they knew it. After an awkward moment of silence, staring at the child, Mewtwo finally spoke up, "_We should probably be going, Lyric. You have to remember the seriousness of our situation. They could be coming for us at any time."_

She sighed, and then out of nowhere, she turned to the male clone confused, but serious, "_How could they know where we are? We don't even know where we are!"_

Mewtwo looked nervously down at the ground—he hadn't told her about the bullet and the tracking device still… Even after she had said that she trusted him completely. Why did it feel like telling her wasn't the right thing to do?

_Why tell her something that's sure to hurt her?_

He wouldn't tell her now, but he promised himself that later, he would tell her. He just couldn't keep any secrets from her. She was one of the few who knew all about his history anyways.

"_I do not know… We need to find Alvar, Lyric. We should start looking—he could be in serious danger as we speak."_

She was still confused, but satisfied._ "Okay, where do we start?"_

"_We should find out where we are and acquire something to eat before we set out on our search for him. Luckily, I can search much more efficiently by sensing for his aura, so searching should not be too difficult… Although I don't know how far one of my scans can travel."_

Lyric seemed to finally understand that Alvar was actually _gone,_ and they had no idea where he was.

"_How are we going to travel…?"_

Mewtwo, already getting the hint, replied, "_Well… I could levitate you around…"_

Lyric smiled deviously, "_Or…"_

Mewtwo also smiled, which seemed an impossibility in this situation.

"_I will have to teach you how to levitate, if that's the only other way."_

Lyric let out a breath, beaming. It was strange how learning one small thing could bring so much joy to a being.

Mewtwo almost jumped back as, completely unexpectedly, the still smiling female clone walked forward and hugged him, her arms around his neck, and her head buried gently in his shoulder.

"_Thank you, Mewtwo."_

He was stunned, and frozen, his arms hovering above his hips. He had never actually been this close to her before; save the time he had carried her back to his home. It was only then that Mewtwo had the chance to smell her clean, white fur, which smelled of lavender.

It was a wonderful moment, but the logical part of Mewtwo's mind couldn't help but think, _Thank you for what?_

As if reading his mind, she replied, "_Thank you for everything."_

With that, their embrace was broken off, and the male clone just looked down at the shimmering, amethyst eyes of the only other female of his species.

He managed to force the stunned expression away, and replace it with a smile, "_You are welcome, Lyric."_

It was the biggest smile that he had ever smiled, even if it was only a small grin.

Lyric, slightly embarrassed, turned to look at the child they had forgotten about again. He looked just as stunned as Mewtwo had been, and was staring at them wide-eyed, his mouth hanging open.

"_He's going to have one heck of a story…"_

They both lightly chuckled, "_We should get going, Mewtwo."_

With that, they turned their backs on the child, and silently walked out the door, making sure to not disturb anyone that could be in the building.

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End of Chapter 23

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Yeah, that's my favorite chapter too.

I hope I pulled this one off okay—this chapter is crucial for character development, and I haven't really been put to the test in the emotional department yet. It's hard to balance how much trouble they're in, and fluff at the same time, if you know what I mean.

Hope you guys enjoyed this one, and please tell me if you liked it, or if it was crap.

Thank you to **Darkraifan492, R.Y.N.O, and Shinypokemanic **for reviewing the last chapter!

More to come soon, so please review! 


	24. Chapter 24: Two's a Company

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 24: Two's a Company

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**Previously:**

Unintentionally teleporting the three of them inside a house, Mewtwo had to explain to Lyric why they were there and why Alvar was missing. Unfortunately, he could only answer the first question, and emotions ran high as Mewtwo realized that Lyric trusted him completely, in spite of the fact that he failed to protect her. After sharing an embrace, they exit the house, leaving behind a stunned, but unharmed child with one hell of a story…

:::::::

As soon as the kitten's skin came in contact with the freezing liquid, he woke up.

He was underwater.

Alvar didn't have any time to react, as he didn't have much air to begin with, so he immediately kicked up with his hind legs to try to reach the surface of the water.

The pressure of the water seemed like it would make his head implode, and his lungs were aching from lack of air, but he was rising fast, straight up from an unknown depth.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity underwater, the Skitty's head broke the surface, just before the point where his lungs couldn't have taken it. Spitting out water and gasping for air, he bobbed on the surface and frantically treaded water.

_What… is going on…_

He didn't have any time to think about what was happening either, because he needed to get to dry ground, fast. He began looking for a shoreline around him. The first direction he looked resulted in only seeing ocean, and lots of it. There wasn't a thing in sight. He spun around in the water, and sighed, more like sputtered, when he saw a shoreline not too far away. He began his best attempt at swimming towards it. It didn't seem too far…

Cats were not meant for water. They disliked being in it and avoided being around it at all costs. However, when put in a life or death situation, cats could actually swim quite well, and that is the type of situation that Alvar was in right then.

The ocean was a deep, fluorescent blue and the sky was indigo and white with fluffy, picturesque clouds, but the kitten didn't have any time to enjoy the scenery. He swam, trying to conserve energy. The only time he had ever gone swimming was whenever he reluctantly took his baths. Sure, licking himself didn't involve water, but for the extreme cases, like getting covered in mud, a bath was definitely necessary.

It felt something like a mile of swimming, but after all, he had just finished sleeping, and no one had more energy than Alvar.

Even with his insane amount of energy, as he dragged himself onto the shoreline, he felt like taking a nap that lasted the rest of his life. The swim had taken away every last drop of his energy, and he collapsed on the wet sand, stomach first, the waves breaking around him. His legs and arms felt like jelly, and his black fur was dripping with water—a feeling that he was not used to.

He finally had time to wonder what the hell happened as he rested.

_What the hell happened?_

He went through everything that had recently occurred before then.

_Okay… Mewtwo left to go do… something... Lyric and I ate something, Lyric fell asleep, and then… I fell asleep? That seems right… Then why did I wake up in the middle of an ocean…_

No answers came to him, and after a few minutes of resting, he lifted his head up to see where he was.

It was a beach, but no one was around. The yellow sand, darkened where the water touched it. The coarseness of the grains brought an itch to the kitten's skin, as it was rough compared to the blankets he was used to. He had never actually been to a beach before, but he had heard about them, and seen them in pictures.

At first, he thought he was on an island, since there was no one in sight, but he found out that wasn't true when he saw the buildings and skyscrapers off in the distance, out in the horizon. Even though the fact that he had come ashore near a city was comforting, he had no idea what city he had arrived at.

All his thoughts were interrupted when out of the corner of his eye Alvar saw what looked like a human, running through the sand. Still very weak, he slowly turned his head so he could see what the movement was. His eye widened in fear—a girl, maybe 13, was running towards him, a pained look on her eyes. From what Alvar could see, she had long, brown hair and was wearing shorts and a peach-colored t-shirt. She was only a few steps away from reaching him, and he desperately tried to get to his feet to run away from her, but he was still too weak from his swim. She came to a halt when she was only a short distance from him, and at the same time, the Skitty flopped back on the ground, exhausted.

...

That was when Alvar realized he couldn't read minds anymore. He couldn't use any of his psychic abilities because he was not around Mewtwo or Lyric. He was a completely deaf, useless black Skitty lying in the middle of a beach. He couldn't hear anything this girl was saying, and also, he couldn't read her thoughts to figure it out.

A sense of terror crept upon Alvar. He was completely vulnerable to anything that would try to attack him. Warily, he looked upon the girl again, who was mouthing words, not knowing he couldn't hear them.

_I could try reading lips... Even though I haven't had to use the skill that much, I'm still fairly good at it..._

He concentrated on the girls lips. She spoke very expressively, so it was easier to decipher what she was saying. She was asking whether he was okay.

He imagined her voice was high and sweet, but at the same time, it being filled with concern.

_Yes, I'm fine. Please leave me alone. _She stared down at him, her concerned look turning in to one of content.

(Aww, you're so cute!)

He furrowed his brow in confusion before shutting his eyes in realization. He couldn't use his telepathy either.

(You look exhausted. I'm gonna take you to a pokemon center.)

She spoke the sentence rather fast, but the Skitty had deciphered the words.

_What?_

He started scooting backwards, horrified, as he saw what the girl now had in her hand.

_No, please don't… I'm fine, really..._

That was all he could think before the pokeball bathed him in its light, and he disappeared inside it in a flash.

:::::::

Giovanni stepped out of the car door and began descending the all too familiar steps of Robert's warehouse. He reached the large, gray door and banged on it impatiently. He grew even more impatient when no one answered for over half of a minute. He was just about to turn around and walk away when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Oh, Giovanni! You're here already. I expected you much later."

It was Robert. He stood at the top of the staircase—his hair was frizzled—he looked like he had been in a hurry.

"I was eager to begin my plan. Do you have the tracking device with you?"

"Yes, it's in the lab. Follow me."

The scientist hurried down the stairs and unlocked the door, Giovanni stepping aside allowing him to do so. They both walked inside, unnecessarily so, because Robert took a few steps inside before grabbing something on a nearby table and handing it to Giovanni. It wasn't a large object—it looked almost exactly like a GPS. It had a display screen with a few buttons underneath and a power button near the top.

Robert watched Giovanni handle the device, "It doesn't work well in here, because it transmits via satellite. Something in the roof of this place must block the rays, I really don't know. You'll have to go outside for the best performance.

They both walked back outside and Giovanni booted up the device, waiting for it to load.

"I haven't actually taken a look at it yet, and I'd like to see how well it works."

Giovanni nodded, "Once it's finished loading, will it show me where my pokemon is?"

"It should. It was made for that sole purpose, so it should take you right to a map of its location after it's done connecting to the satellite."

It only took a few more moments before a display flashed on the screen, and they both leaned forward to inspect it eagerly.

It was a map, much like the one on the computer in the warehouse, but more compact. Also, the display on the map looked much different than the other computer.

One thing was for sure: the blinking dot in the center of the screen was not at the church anymore.

Giovanni frowned as he saw this, and so did Robert.

"It looks like it's in some kind of residential area."

The Rocket boss nodded in agreement, "It looks like it left that church after all. Well… it was to be expected, but it was worth it. Where exactly is this residential area located, Robert?" He replied, finally tearing his eyes away from the mesmerizing display screen.

Taking the device from his hand, he began pressing some of the buttons below the display screen, "Hold on a second, let me check."

He pressed a few more buttons and froze in surprise, "Oh."

Giovanni was curious, "What is it?"

"It's in Rustboro."

"Rustboro?"

"Yes, although I have no idea why it would want to go there."

"A residential area of Rustboro?"

"From the looks of it."

It was a strange place indeed for the mewtwo to resort to. A forest or a cave seemed a more likely place, not a wide-open city like Rustboro.

He couldn't help but wonder if the Devon Corporation had any involvement in this now. Any time he heard of anything happening in Rustboro, it almost always had to do with the Devon Corporation.

It was unlikely, but Giovanni didn't dismiss the thought, he pushed it to the back of his mind if it was ever needed for future use.

"Well, Robert, it looks like it works just fine."

"Yes, it does, and does your offer that I could come with you on your search for the pokemon still stand?"

Giovanni didn't smile, "Of course, if you would still like to come."

"Yes, that would be splendid. I don't have much to be working on anyways, and I would like to see this through to the end. I've spent so much time delved into creating this plan, you see."

"If anyone deserves to come, it's you Robert. This would've never been possible without you."

Robert smiled, "Well I wouldn't have done it for anyone but you, old friend. When do you leave for Rustboro?"

"I am still waiting for a bus I ordered to arrive."

"A bus?"

Giovanni nodded, "To pull this off, I need a way to transport many Rockets at once without looking conspicuous. Driving around with an armada of black cars isn't going to achieve that, I'm afraid, so I settled on a bus. The clone will most likely have left the area when we arrive, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Well don't forget to contact me when you do head out."

"I won't, Robert."

With that, they parted ways. Giovanni headed back up the stairs to the chauffeur who was waiting for him in a car, and Robert went back into his warehouse.

:::::::

"_Can you sense anything?"_

The female clone, hovering far above the clouds, shouted out to the concentrating Mewtwo, whose eyes were closed.

"_It is extremely difficult to focus on searching for Alvar, keeping you aloft, and responding to your questions at the same time."_

She smirked, "_Well teach me how to levitate then!"_

His eyes stayed shut, "_I have already told you that I would, I just wanted to see if Alvar had been teleported nearby. According to my sweeps he has not."_

She sighed and looked down at the city they were hovering over, far below. "_Do you know what city this is?"_

He gave up searching, opened his eyes somewhat exasperated and looked at her. "_Yes, we are in Rustboro City. A city located in the Hoenn region, far from the church."_

She had a sad look on her face, as if expecting the worst._"Are we ever going to go back there?"_

Not waiting for a response, she added, "_Do you think they…whoever is after us… Do you think they could find us here?"_

He ignored the first question, but she didn't seem to notice,_ "Yes, they most likely could."_

"_Even a mile in the air?"_

He frowned at her, slightly annoyed. "_No… but I can only keep both of us aloft for so long."_

"_Well, why don't you set me back on the ground then?"_

His frown endured, "_I would rather not leave you alone in a city I am not familiar with."_

She matched his frown. She knew what he said was for the best—after all, she couldn't protect herself whatsoever, but it still made her slightly angry.

"_Well, teach me how to defend myself so that you actually _can_ leave me alone!"_

"_I promise I will when I get the chance. You have to remember that Alvar is missing."_

She was saddened, but not discouraged. "_Yes…"_

He looked quizzical for a moment, and then broke the short silence, _"Perhaps we can finish your lesson on levitation later tonight, before we rest."_

This restored Lyric to smiling, "_How much more do I have to learn?"_

"_You were very close to achieving levitation before you fell sick—I could sense it. I believe you should be able to make your first flight by the end of tonight, if you try hard enough."_

"_I definitely will. After that, what will you teach me?"_

He began gently lowering them to the ground, most likely without her noticing.

"_That is all up to you, Lyric."_

"_But… I don't know which skill is more important."_

Mewtwo thought on this for a moment.

"_Well, if you are concerned with not being able to defend yourself, perhaps afterwards we could work on creating a physical barrier with your mind."_

He conjured up a shining blue barrier around them, to show the female clone what said barrier would look like.

"_Wow… Can anything get through this barrier?"_

He shook his head, "_As long as you have the strength to hold it up, nothing can get through. Except…"_

He winced, remembering a past event, "_Dark-type pokemon's attacks will go straight through your barrier. Remember to stay away from them—psychic attacks will not harm them whatsoever."_

She noticed his pained expression "_Did you ever run into one?"_

He nodded, but did it slowly, as if remembering something painful in his past.

"_Yes, a long time ago. It was the first time I had ever encountered dark-type pokemon."_

Lyric's face brightened as she noticed they had almost reached the ground of the city, "_Well, I'm glad you made it out okay. I would probably be dead back in that alley if it wasn't for you, Mewtwo."_

He didn't smile, and he didn't even nod. It was like the clone was reexperiencing all the terrible things that had happened, but he snapped out of it just as they were about to reach the ground.

The rest of the day went quite slowly, and was spent walking around the city, cloaked from the people bustling around them. Lyric couldn't be out of the male clone's sight for more than a minute. Team Rocket could arrive to capture them any second, and he couldn't take any chances. He sighed at the thought of not being able to sleep—he would have to be on watch all night.

:::::::

The sun was going down, and Lyric was unwinding after a day of doing nothing. They were both sitting down in the grass, still cloaked, at a random park in the city. Almost no one was around, save the occasional passerby.

"_Lyric, are you alright with moving on to a different city tomorrow? It would be safer. If we stay in one place for too long, there is a higher chance that the people who are searching for us will find us."_

"_Why didn't we just leave today? We really didn't do anything productive."_

"_I would rather not be on the move all the time. It is adamant, however, that we do not settle down."_

She tried to understand, but it was hard to accept the fact that they could never settle down.

"_Will we ever be able to live somewhere again?"_

The male clone looked at her. She was acting like she had no other choice but to live with him. He wasn't forcing her to stay, was he? No being deserved to be imprisoned. He went through enough of that in his life to know what it was like.

"_Lyric, you know you do not have to stay with me? You could leave any time you want… Although it would be nice if you would tell me when…"_

He stopped. Now it sounded like he wanted her to leave.

"_I am not implying that I would like you to leave—I very much would like if you stayed…"_

He sighed. This had turned bad fast.

She smiled at his struggles, and easily replied, "_Where else would I go? You're the only other one of my species, Mewtwo. It's like we're destined to be together."_

This struck him hard, but in a good way. She _was _the only other one of his species. Was it destiny?

It was then that he remembered the mysterious note that had led him to Lyric.

"_Lyric, what about that note?"_

"_What?"_

"_The note that led me to you. Was that destiny?"_

She thought for a moment. Mewtwo rarely asked _her _questions.

"_Mewtwo, I have no idea how that happened, but I am nothing but grateful. Maybe it was a miracle."_

He raised his brow, "_A miracle? Are you referring to a miracle performed by God?"_

Lyric was amused by his already forming skepticism. "_Hey, you can never be sure. Reincarnation could be true for all we know."_

Not wanting to continue with the topic of religion, he tried changing the subject—one that was sure to catch Lyric's attention.

"_It looks like it is getting dark. How about we continue with the levitation practice?"_

Obviously eager, Lyric scooted away from the male clone, giving them space, and crossed her legs.

Pleased by her eagerness, Mewtwo did the same.

Before he could say anything, she interrupted, "_Don't even tell me what to do—I can remember."_

He nodded, "_As you wish. Just do not forget that all we are aiming for is levitating a short distance off the ground. Once you do this, it will still be quite a while before you will be ready to fly over buildings."_

"_Yeah, well I'll prove you wrong."_

With that, both of their eyes were closed.

Mewtwo wasn't focusing on levitating—instead, he was lightly and unnoticeably probing her mind, to see if she was doing anything incorrectly. To his surprise, he couldn't seem to enter her mind at all.

He opened his eyes at the realization of this. She was still in deep concentration.

_Could she have created a mental barrier? I have not taught her how to do that…_

Not wanting to break her concentration, he let it go, and closed his eyes again.

:::::::

Lyric's mind was a swirl of nothingness. She had let herself go to the point that it felt like all of her limbs were asleep—like they were nonexistent. Her limbs somehow felt warm, and it felt like she could float away at any second. She concentrated on letting her body go, and falling deep into her own mind. She wasn't actually sure what she was doing, but the weightlessness feeling she was achieving felt right.

_How do I get off the ground?_

Still keeping her concentration, she went back into the state of nothingness, but this time, she accepted the weightlessness and imagined that her body was drifting upwards. It was a strange feeling—almost like if her soul was leaving her body, but at the same time, she couldn't feel her body. This mixture of feeling was interrupted by a breathy, but serious, "_Lyric."_

She opened her eyes, and at the same time, she felt the wind being knocked out of her unexpectedly as her lower half collided with the ground.

After catching her breath, she couldn't help but wonder.

_What…_

"_Lyric, you were just levitating."_

It was Mewtwo. His mouth was hanging open, with a hint of a smile, and his eyes were wider than she'd ever seen.

"_I was…?"_

"_Yes, you were. Only a small distance off the ground… but you were definitely levitating."_

She was speechless.

"_I… How?"_

"_I was hoping you would tell me that. I had expected for us to be here for at least an hour."_

His voice was masked, but she could still tell that he was absolutely astonished.

"_I just… I just did it…"_

Mewtwo wasn't sure whether she was describing how she levitated, or whether she was expressing that she had achieved her goal. This quandary was solved, however, when she repeated the phrase, much louder.

"_I just did it!"_

:::::::

End of Chapter 24

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Felt like I should end it there. Anywhere else felt awkward.

A lot happened in this chapter, and I actually put even more effort into it than usual. Hope you all enjoyed it.

Thanks to **R.Y.N.O, Oddle, Silvermist464, Darkraifan462, and Amaya, **for reviewing the last chapter!

Thanks a bunch for reading, and please review!


	25. Chapter 25: Blackie

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 25: Blackie

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**Previously:**

Alvar woke up underwater, in the middle of an ocean, and had no idea what was going on. He managed to swim to shore, just barely, and severely exhausted, only to be captured by a girl who intended on taking him to a Pokemon Center to heal.

Back at the Rocket headquarters, Giovanni obtained a GPS-like device from Robert so he could track Mewtwo easier, and agreed on letting the scientist along for the exhibition.

Meanwhile, Lyric and Mewtwo started their search for Alvar, having no idea where he was. Their day was unsuccessful and uneventful. At the end of that same day, Lyric surprises Mewtwo by successfully levitating after a very short practice.

:::::::

It was a strange sensation—almost like the warmth and nothingness of sleeping, but not quite. It was almost like he still had consciousness, and could move his limbs around in a peculiar world that he couldn't quite sense.

He was inside a pokeball.

It was his first time ever being inside one, and Alvar couldn't see how any pokemon could get used to it. It was so different than anything he'd ever experienced; he didn't even have words to describe it.

It seemed like the world he was in would never fade, until finally, he felt himself being pulled out of the nothingness. He regained his senses—he was laying on a small bed made specifically for pokemon. As he scanned the surrounding area, he saw that he was in a small, but somewhat cozy room. All around him were other beds occupied by various pokemon of different shapes and sizes. There were a few nurses roaming the room, tending to the sick and injured pokemon and there were even what looked like a few trainers standing next to their supposed pokemon. The room was white and red, much like the color of a pokeball.

He had never been to a Pokemon Center—Mewtwo always tried to stay away from them since he never really needed them. Alvar had been told about them, but this was not what he expected.

Upon further inspection of the room, he saw the girl that had captured him standing slouched over in the center of the room, talking to another nurse in a white jacket—similar to all the other nurses about the room. He didn't feel like reading lips at the moment—most likely nothing the two humans were saying was anything important. All he needed to focus on was getting out of this Pokecenter. He couldn't stay here, that was for sure.

He noticed that he wasn't feeling any pain… which was odd. He had been sore as hell… _How long was I in that pokeball?_

He looked around for a clock but there was none to be found. He guessed that he had been in there for quite a while—all his soreness had faded.

The Skitty tried moving a leg, and winced the moment his muscles were put to work as what felt like a jolt of electricity shot up his nerves.

_Maybe not that long…_

His arms were the same—very sore. He wouldn't be moving anytime soon.

As if putting an exclamation mark on his last thought, both the nurse and the girl finished their conversation and proceeded to walk to the side of the bed Alvar was lying on. He began reading their lips again. They hadn't seemed to notice that the kitten was awake yet.

(I've never seen a black one before—it's cute!)

(I found it on the beach. It was just lying there and—ran over—captured…)

The young girl was talking at a very fast rate, and the kitten couldn't catch up with what she was saying. He assumed that she was explaining how she had captured him.

(A Skitty on the beach… It's unheard of really…)

(A black Skitty on the beach…)

_A black, deaf Skitty on the beach… _He thought to himself amused.

The young girl finally looked at him, (Oh, its awake!)

They were all startled, and the nurse quickly put a hand on Alvar's head, apparently to check for a temperature. The Skitty jolted back a little as the nurse's cold hand unexpectedly touched his forehead and winced again in pain as he did so.

(It doesn't seem to have caught any sicknesses—it just looks like it's very sore, that's all.)

The young girl was relieved. (Well that's good. It must have been swimming. I wonder where it came from.)

(That's a good question. What are you going to do with it now?)

Alvar looked intently at the girl. _Say let it go… Please say let it go… Please…_

(I guess I'm gonna keep it. Who could pass up such a cute pokemon?)

The nurse laughed along with the young girl.

_No, I can't be taken by her… I'll never see Mewtwo again—I have to escape…_

(Well, it doesn't look like it should have to stay cooped up in here anymore. Just don't make it participate in any strenuous activities.)

(Thanks for taking care of… Him? Her?)

(I believe it's male.)

(Well thanks anyways!)

_How am I supposed to get up? I ache when I move any muscles…_

(C'mon, Blackie!) She was waiting by the door at the end of the room.

_Blackie? I really hope that's not what she actually said…_

The nurse, still standing by the bed, butted in, (I think that he is too weak to walk.)

(Well I'll just have to carry him home then.)

_Oh, no…_

(You could just put him in your pokeball.)

_Yes!_

(Nah, I'll just carry him. If I'm going to keep him I have to get to know him!)

It was no use. He was much too weak to struggle, and as she scooped him up in her arms, he let out an audible growl to show his displeasure. She didn't seem to notice, and was thankfully gentle with him walking out of the Pokecenter.

The brightness of the sun glared in Alvar's eyes as they exited. The town was an average size, and unfamiliar. It was much smaller than Vermillion—the town he had lived in most of his life, so the lack of excessive skyscrapers and cars was strange to him. There was a PokeMart to the left of the Pokecenter, and farther north it looked as if there was a suburban area packed with small houses like sardines. Trees were abundant, as well as small bushes, and the young girl stopped and bent down to pick a berry off one of the bushes, squeezing the kitten much to tightly as he did so. All Alvar could do was whimper until the girl noticed.

They walked down a friendly looking street surrounded by houses. She turned sharply at one of them—a small, white and tan house with a pointed roof and multiple windows. The surrounding houses were exactly the same color, but this particular house seemed slightly larger than the rest.

She stepped up to the door of the house and opened it, still holding the Skitty uncomfortably in one arm. He could feel his muscles loosening up from use, but he was nowhere near being completely healed.

The interior of the house looked similar to the outside, except that the carpet was a deep brown. It was a fairly basic set-up for a house: Two stairways led up and down at the entrance, the one going up led to the living room, kitchen and bedrooms, and the downstairs led to the basement.

:::::::

"Mom, I'm home! And I brought something!"

A voice answered from the kitchen, "Hello honey. What'd you bring?"

She finished climbing the stairs and flopped down on the living room couch, setting down the Skitty she held in her arms. He surprisingly didn't struggle at all—it was probably because he was so sore. "Come here and see! You'll love it!"

A woman came from the kitchen doorway. She was in her mid-thirties and looked like she had been doing some type of work in the kitchen involving water, as her sweatpants and shirt were wet. She stopped when she saw the black Skitty, surveying its surroundings with wide, scared eyes.

"Where did you get that?"

"Don't you like him?"

"Sure, he's cute, but where did you get him?"

The young girl looked at her mom disappointed, "I found him on the beach."

"A _Skitty _on the beach?"

"Yeah, he was just lying there."

She looked at the small kitten pokemon watching her carefully. "How do you know he doesn't have rabies or something?"

"He doesn't have rabies…"

"Why do you think he was on the beach then?"

The young girl raised an eyebrow, confused. "How does that prove he has rabies?"

"Honey, you can never be too careful with wild pokemon."

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't have rabies, Mom."

They both stared at the Skitty, who stared back at both of them with unblinking eyes. The mother broke the silence first, "What's wrong with it?"

"I think it's really sore. It must've been swimming or something."

"Why would a Skitty go for a swim? Something's fishy…"

The young girl rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Mom… why are you so paranoid about everything! Nothing's gonna happen."

The mother only responded by nodding her head.

The young girl continued when she still was silent. She was staring intently at the Skitty, who was staring just as intently back.

"So… can we keep it?"

"…Like in your pokeball, or as a house pet?"

"Whichever one you're more comfortable with."

She contemplated the pros and cons of each decision, and finally responded, "I guess it can sleep in the house for a night. We'll see how it goes."

"Thanks Mom, you're the best!"

She gave her mother a quick peck on the cheek before she turned and ran to her room. Almost instantly, she reappeared, having forgotten that the Skitty couldn't walk on his own just yet.

Her room was pink, with posters plastered all over the walls. It was fairly small, and didn't seem big enough for a girl of thirteen like she was.

She placed the Skitty on the bed in the center of the room and stood before him, smiling proudly.

"This here beautiful cavern of awesomeness is my room. I sleep where you're lying right now and…"

The Skitty she was playfully speaking to wasn't listening. His head was turned away from her and he seemed to be inspecting the room.

She kept her energetic mood and tried getting his attention. "Hey, Blackie."

The kitten didn't turn his head.

She lost her smile and raised her voice quite a few decibels. "Blackie!"

After another lack of response, she had to poke him in the shoulder to get him to finally turn his head, surprised.

Now having his attention, she playfully asked, "Wow, Blackie, what's wrong with you? Are you deaf!"

The kitten was staring at her slightly creepily, and then he nodded his head as if he had understood her. Sure, pokemon could understand humans, but… That meant it was deaf…

"Well how the hell can you hear me now then?"

The Skitty swiftly raised a paw and motioned to his mouth. It took a few moments for her to understand, but when she did, she widened her eyes in realization.

"You're reading my lips! You can do that?"

He just nodded, an unreadable expression on his face, like he was lost in thought, but trying to hide it.

"So you're a black, deaf Skitty who likes to swim?"

The Skitty nodded his head. She was amused and didn't bother hiding it. "Well, how do you like my room?"

He looked around again at the colorful pink room, and turned back to her, not moving his head any direction.

The silence simmered in the room as the young girl tried to decipher what the Skitty was thinking. He had stopped staring at her and was now focusing on standing on four legs. He succeeded, even though his face was twisted in pain and his legs were shaky.

"You must've taken quite a swim."

He tried taking a step forward on the bed, but collapsed. He got up on his feet again and this time, managed to take a few steps. After a few more steps, he froze in place, staring down at his shaky legs.

"I'm sure you'll be fine by tomorrow. Tomorrow we're going to the park, so if you are feeling better, you could run around and play with other pokemon. I might even be able to catch some." She then realized that since the Skitty wasn't watching her lips, he couldn't hear her at all. She shook her head at her own stupidity.

As if the last sentence she had spoken had reminded her, she went over to a far corner of her room and grabbed something off of a desk. The movement caught the Skitty's eye, and he watched her as she returned with a pokeball in her hand.

"You should meet my other pokemon if you're going to be living here."

She pressed a button on the red and white ball, and in a flash of light, a Cyndaquil appeared on the bed beside the Skitty.

As soon as the Cyndaquil saw the kitten, he jumped back and growled.

"It's okay! It's my new friend! Boy, are you jumpy today."

The Cyndaquil seemed calmed by these words, and it sat on its haunches and greeted the slightly nervous Skitty, "Quil!"

The kitten only stared nervously back at the pokemon. After a few moments thought, the young girl realized that the Skitty couldn't understand the Cyndaquil whatsoever. Pokemon language was created in the variance of syllables and letter length in the same word: the pokemon's name. That meant there was no way that the kitten could read its lips.

The Cyndaquil turned to look at the young girl, with a helpless and confused look. The kitten was still staring warily at the pokemon now on the bed with him.

"I don't think he can hear you. He's deaf."

The Cyndaquil, understanding, turned back to the Skitty, who had abandoned staring, and was slowly walking around the bed on shaky legs. The silence that had fallen over the room was awkward to the young girl, and she attempted to break it.

"Well… I'm not doing anything else the rest of the day, so…" She glanced around the room and her eyes widened as her cell phone caught her eye.

"Crap! I told my friend I'd call her an hour ago!"

She zoomed over and snatched the phone up. Walking out of the room she began to dial a number, closing the door behind her at the same time.

The Cyndaquil rolled its eyes and turned back to the Skitty, who had abandoned walking and was now sitting. The Cyndaquil outstretched a paw to the Skitty, knowing they couldn't communicate. Slightly surprised, the kitten accepted the gesture, and shook paws with the Cyndaquil.

:::::::

Night had almost fallen, and the Skitty had spent the entire afternoon in the bedroom with the Cyndaquil. The young girl had been away talking to the friend the entire time.

The fact that he couldn't talk to the Cyndaquil really made the afternoon dull. He explored the room he was in, but besides that, there wasn't much to do besides try and sleep off the soreness in his limbs.

Finally, the young girl came back in the room. It was nighttime, and the girl looked like she was getting tired already.

(Did I leave you two in here all day?) She looked at them, quite guiltily. The Skitty was still lying on the bed and the Cyndaquil had wandered off to the corner.

_Yeah, I am definitely getting out of here tonight, _Alvar thought with a smirk.

_Hopefully I can get out… It will be tough since I have to get past the doors. I need a plan._

He quickly thought of one, and put it to action. It _was _nighttime anyways.

The young girl was yawning as he hopped off the bed and began pawing the door that she had subconsciously closed.

She came out of her yawn, and saw the kitten's action.

(Do you need do go out?)

Alvar nodded his head excitedly. He did need to go relieve himself, but that wasn't the reason he wanted out.

She opened the bedroom door and followed the kitten down the stairs to the front door.

(I don't have a litter box or anything, so you'll just have to go outside.)

She opened the front door, freeing him from the house, finally. He bolted out, but not too fast, to make it look like he wasn't escaping. He frowned when he saw the Cyndaquil right behind him. If it was with him when he escaped, then it could probably tell the girl somehow. Even if she knew he had run away, she wouldn't follow him, right? She had only known him for a day.

Besides, what right did she have to take him off of the beach like she had? Sure, trainers captured pokemon all the time, but that didn't make it right. Taking a pokemon from its home could cause shock, even depression, especially if the pokemon was young. Trainers just disregarded that fact like it didn't matter.

_There's not much I can do about it, _Alvar thought. _Humans have been capturing Pokemon since the Ancient times._

There wasn't anything to contain the Skitty in the front yard, so he waited for the young girl to close the front door before trotting to the street nearby. The Cyndaquil stopped at the street edge and stared at Alvar, as if wondering whether the Skitty was actually running away.

The kitten stopped and turned back to face the Cyndaquil, quizzically. Even though they hadn't talked, maybe a small bond had been created between them. The Cyndaquil was frowning, as if disappointed or sad that he was betraying the fragile trust of the young girl that had been so kind to them.

They couldn't communicate, save the emotions that showed through each other's eyes. The Skitty's eyes portrayed certainty, but at the same time, nervousness, and fear—maybe even some guilt. The Cyndaquil's eyes were shrouded in confusion and shock—it couldn't believe that the Skitty could get up and leave that easily. It was almost as if he had no heart.

After an awkward moment of the two staring at each other, Alvar tried convey how sorry he was through his eyes.

He was sorry. He felt bad about leaving this girl who cared about her—who only wanted to give him a good home, but he already had a home. He had to find Mewtwo and Lyric.

_Mewtwo and Lyric…_

He had had a lot of time to think about what happened, and he eventually came up with the conclusion that Mewtwo must've teleported him while he was sleeping. The reasoning behind this was unknown. If something was interfering with Mewtwo's teleportation, than that could be the reason behind him appearing underwater. Mewtwo had been teleported to Lavender Town—he must've gotten lucky…

_But… Why wouldn't he wake me before he teleported me? And… was I the only one he teleported?_

The first thing he was going to do was return to the church. With luck, they were already aware of his lack of presence, and might have even been looking for him.

Resolved, he took one last look at the Cyndaquil before turning his back and walking away, leaving behind the quaint house. He didn't look back—he knew he was doing the right thing.

:::::::

End of Chapter 25

:::::::

I am getting a betareader, so my updates are going to come slower now. This is for the best, as it will improve my story a great deal. Also, I'm starting a oneshot that's probably going to turn into a longfic. I think you all are going to love the idea… But yeah, some of my time will go into that.

This chapter is an Alvar-fest, which is cool. He needed some character development.

Thanks for reading, and please review!


	26. Chapter 26: Happenings

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 26: Happenings

:::::::

**Previously:**

After waking up on the beach, Alvar was taken to a PokeCenter by a young girl where he restored his energy. She took the kitten back to her house and intended on keeping him as a pet, but Alvar knew that he did not belong there. The first chance he got, he ran away, making sure that no one was following–His destination: the church.

**:::::::**

"_I'm not so sure about this..."_

Far above the ground below, the two clones were both hovering using their telekinetic abilities, making sure to stay close together.

"_I did not think that you were afraid of heights, Lyric."_

Looking down, the female clone nervously replied.

"_Well, I'm not... It's just... What if I fall?"_

Mewtwo smirked humorously and turned his head to look at her, only a body length away. She was still looking down, but floating solely with her own levitation powers.It had been approximately two days since she had successfully levitated for the first time, and she was now taking her first truly elevated flight, _already._

She continued, "_This levitation takes basically all of my concentration... I don't think that I'll ever get used to this."_

Looking straight again, Mewtwo gently replied, "_Just look at the view. I'm sure it will calm your nerves."_

She obeyed, looking up at the puffy clouds they both were floating over, reflecting the sunshine coming from above. The clouds weren't excessively thick, but thick enough that the clones were hidden from view from anyone who happened to be gazing at the sky from the ground.

She sighed, and there was silence for a few more minutes as they slowly floated forward.

"_We should look for Alvar..." _

Mewtwo turned to look at her again, "_I have been constantly scanning the area ever since we left Rustboro. I can assure you that if he is near–within a few miles, I will be able to sense his aura."_

"_He must be furious..."_

With another smirk, Mewtwo replied, looking back at the scenery, "_I would think that he is mostly confused. I do hope that he is doing well..."_

He let out a restrained sigh, "_I feel guilty for putting him through this... I sincerely hope he will be able to forgive me."_

Lyric looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. After deciding against making a remark about his unexpected showing of feelings, she replied.

"_He will be nothing but happy to see us, Mewtwo."_

–And after a slight pause, "_How is it that I know Alvar better than you? You've known him much longer than I have."_

He gazed back at her silently, as if marinating in the words she spoke.

"_I'm unsure."_

After more silence, the female clone replied, "_Where are we going anyways?"_

"_I did not choose a specific location to travel to. Where would you like to search?"_

She thought for a moment, "_Why don't we go back to the church? If I ever got lost, that would be the first place I would go."_

He considered this, but dismissed it rather quickly.

"_The people who are looking for us... That is the first place they would search as well. They are most likely there now because they think we will return."_

"_How is Alvar to know that? If he was teleported near the church, he could already be back by now. What if the people capture him? They could..."_

She paused, going over the possibilities of what could be happening to Alvar.

Mewtwo was trying to figure out if that was the first place Alvar would go, but deep down, he already knew. Alvar would go to the church.

_Of course he would go to the church. There is know way that he knows we are not there now. If the people searching for us are there... I will just have to take that risk._

Resolutely, Mewtwo finished for her, "_You are right. The church is the first place he would go. We must search there."_

Lyric nodded, "_Didn't you say that we were far away from the church?"_

"_Yes, but it is not an impossible journey. It should only be a days flight if we do not rest."_

"_Let's go now. He could already be there..."_

With that, Mewtwo turned in the direction that was supposedly towards Vermillion, and levitated forward as Lyric followed.

:::::::

Alvar was definitely not at the church yet. In fact, he had no idea where he was.At the moment he was wishing his fur was not black.

All who saw the kitten had been giving him strange looks, most likely because he was an unusual color. He was considering concealing himself from view, in fear of a trainer who would want to capture him to show him off to friends.

He was walking down a street in the outskirts of a town. The name of the town was still unknown to him, as he hadn't seen anything familiar that could clue him in on where he was. He began directing his attention to local businesses, in hopes that one of them would have the city name in the business title.

After another strange look from a skinny man passing by, the kitten finally decided on concealing himself. He made his way across the empty street and began walking in the shadows of the buildings surrounding the area.

After another few minutes of aimless walking, his eyes lit up when he saw a building in a corner, only a short distance ahead of him.

'FELICITY LOANS'

_Felicity... Is that the name of a city?_

Alvar couldn't remember any mention of a city named Felicity, but he kept the word in the back of his mind. It easily could have been just the name of another business.

He sighed at the thought of how much easier this would be if only he could talk, or use telepathy, although the latter would probably get him in even more trouble than he was then.

All he needed was to find out where he was, and then find a map or something of the sort so he could find out how to get back to Vermillion.

_Maybe Mewtwo and Lyric will find me. Maybe this is all just a joke..._

If it was a joke, Alvar made a mental note never to forgive Mewtwo for it, even though the possibility was almost nil.

Almost half an hour past of uneventful walking before his answer came in the form of another business title.

'FUSCHIA WOODWORK'

_Fuschia..._

The name did sound familiar... maybe a city? The kitten didn't know any cities outside of the Kanto region, so maybe this was in Kanto?

He smiled at the fact that he could be so lucky that he wasn't teleported thousands of miles away from the church. He wouldn't even have to cross an ocean if he remembered his geography correctly.

It was coming back to him somewhat. He remembered reading a Kanto news article about something happening in Fuschia, which meant the city was in Kanto.

Fuschia was at the south end of Kanto and Vermillion was at the southeast end. It was only about half the distance of Kanto away, and there weren't any lakes, oceans, or mountains blocking his path.

Not knowing what to do next, the kitten looked around, trying to figure out what part of Fuschia he was in. He could easily go the wrong way and get even more lost.

The only definite solution was to travel to the border of the city, where he could find the routes that would take him to Vermillion. As he continued walking, he made a silent wish that he would make it back to the church safely.

:::::::

"Sir, the bus you ordered has arrived."

Giovanni glanced up at the grunt who had poked his head around the now opened door of the office.

"Finally! They're a day late."

He got up out of his office chair and stretched his arms, making sure to rid himself of any kinks and knots that could have formed in his muscles while he had been sitting.

After a small trip through the corridors of the Rocket headquarters, Giovanni opened the doors and squinted his sensitive eyes at the glare of the sun_. _He looked around to no avail. The sun was nearly blinding him. He solved this problem with a hand to his forehead, and attempted looking around again. He spotted a tall, greyish bus in the left-hand area of the small parking lot that belonged to the Rocket facilities.

Smiling, he approached the vehicle. There was a man waiting near it, his back turned away from the Rocket boss. When Giovanni was only a short distance away from the vehicle, the man turned around and spotted him. He straightened his brown uniform and as Giovanni approached, he held out a clipboard.

"Giovanni?"

The boss nodded. "Yes."

The man hesitated before replying, "I need you to sign this."

Giovanni stared at the clipboard the man was holding out to him. There was a thin, white piece of paper attached with very small words making up most of it. At the bottom there was a line for a signature.

"It's for the bus."

Annoyed at the man's unneeded comment, Giovanni smirked.

"Very well."

He scribbled a signature and returned the pen. The man quickly inspected the signature, and turned his back, but not before adding: "Enjoy your bus."

Giovanni ignored the strange comment, and turned to look at the bus, looming over him and casting a cooling shadow.He walked a few strides until he was at the bus doors, continuing to admire it. He considered entering the bus, but there was no need, so he decided against it.

On a whim, the Rocket boss turned around to see if the clipboard man was still anywhere around. Strangely, he had completely disappeared.

_That's peculiar..._ Giovanni thought to himself.

Looking around some more, he spotted a glint coming from around the corner of a building across the street_. _As he looked closer, he could make out the silhouette of a man holding some type of shiny box. The man was staring at him, as if frozen in shock that the Rocket boss was staring right back at him. After a short, confusing moment for Giovanni, the man fumbled with the box he was holding, and pressed down on something in the center.

Giovanni only had a second to realize what was happening and react. He dove forward and landed on his stomach as the grey bus exploded in a fireball behind him.

:::::::

End of Chapter 26

:::::::

Hey, I'm back, and sorry for the wait.

Life has been busy. I've been writing songs, working on my stuff for Rock Band,(check my profile for more info) and in fact, this past week I was practicing for a concert which I performed with my band yesterday. It was awesome.

Between all this, I couldn't quite get motivated enough to write another chapter of LitS, so I'm really glad I finally got this up. Also, I wrote a short one-shot that I might turn into a full story depending on what you guys think of it. It's completed and uploaded to FF, so take a look if you have the time. I hope you're all still with me!

Yes, this is an unusually short chapter, but there's a lot going on and I'm sure you all enjoyed that cliffhanger I just threw at you!

Anyways, try not to expect more waits like this, and thanks for sticking with me.

Thanks to **R.Y.N.O, Rediamond, Darkraifan462, BrightEmeraldRose, noface, **and **Amaya **for reviewing the last chapter!

Please read and review!


	27. Chapter 27: Dissipate

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 27: Dissipate

:::::::

**Previously:**

After only a few days, Lyric was on her way to perfecting levitation. They hadn't found Alvar yet, and Lyric brought up an interesting point: the first place he would go would be the church. Mewtwo agreed, and knowing that Team Rocket was most likely watching the church, they both hurried to arrive before the kitten did. Unknown to them, Alvar had only managed to figure out where he was, and had just begun his journey home. Meanwhile, Giovanni's bus arrived, and after signing some papers from a man who acted somewhat strange, he stood back to admire the bus. Noticing a man watching him with what he assumed was a detonator in his hand, Giovanni managed to dive to the ground before the bus exploded behind him.

:::::::

The two clones were high above the clouds, as they had been for the past several hours. Lyric had been following beside Mewtwo for most of the time, and the past conversation had drifted from Lyric's history to the story of how Mewtwo found Alvar. The male clone didn't mind talking with her, since she seemed to take pleasure from it.

As Mewtwo started to lower his altitude, he heard Lyric call out from above him.

"Mewtwo, what are you doing?"

Glancing upwards at her and pausing his movement, he replied, "I am taking a short break from our trip. We have been levitating for several hours, Lyric."

Carefully dropping to his altitude, she playfully smirked, "You're not tired, are you?"

Mewtwo didn't respond. The truth was that yes, he was slightly fatigued, but not for the reason she believed. Unknown to her, Mewtwo had been helping her levitate with his telekinesis whenever he saw her struggle. This, combined with his own levitation and the constant communicating between them had worn him down.

Keeping the silence, they lowered themselves down through the clouds, and spying a beach, Mewtwo steered over to it, with Lyric following. It was a perfect day, with no wind or weather. The sun, now covered by the clouds, warmed the air to a perfect temperature.

"I've never been to a beach," Lyric coolly spoke as they neared the ground.

"I have only been one other time," the male clone responded.

The beach was deserted, which was surprising for such a beautiful day, but the fact that it was four p.m. on a weekday explained it.

They strode side by side on the soft sand; their feet slightly sinking into the tiny grains as they looked out at the ocean. The waters were rushing up the mild slope of the sand, seeming unstoppable, only to slow and recede back into the shoreline. The clones were walking close enough to the water for their footprints to be washed away by each surge of liquid.

Lyric, looking back at the footprints mused silently to herself. The footprints were deep, considering their body size. Each print contained two toes on the front that gradually disappeared towards the back. This was because their species tended to walk on the fronts of their feet slightly more than the backs.

As if they were somehow connected, they both stopped walking, sat down on their haunches and took in the beautiful scenery that was the ocean.

There was peaceful, undisturbed silence, only interrupted by the quiet roar of the ocean.

"_Mewtwo, why am I here?"_

He looked at her, wondering exactly what she was asking. Was she wondering why they were specifically at the beach? If so, she most likely would have used 'we,' instead of 'I.' Could she finally be pondering her destiny in life?

Mewtwo, upon awakening from his cloning chamber, was almost immediately bombarded with the one haunting question: What was his destiny? He was created by humans. Created by the created. Whether by natural or spiritual means, Mewtwo was a false life. But he had accepted this. The breaking point was his escape from Team Rocket. Giovanni had confused the clone. He made him think all he was good for was for serving humans. The clone knew that his destiny had to be more than that... why was he gifted with all this power? What could he do to be beneficial?

He had wondered why the female now sitting next to him had not brought up the topic sooner. The only reason he hadn't brought the topic up himself was the pain that it would inevitably bring to her.

She was staring at the sand in front of her knees, remaining silent as Mewtwo tried to come up with an answer.

"_There are some things that we will never know, Lyric. You could devote your life to finding your destiny, but then wouldn't that in itself be your destiny? I believe that you cannot find your destiny. Your destiny finds you."_

She finally broke her gaze with the sand and looked him in the eyes as he continued.

"_Back when I was still with Team Rocket, I was pondering that exact question. I was created artificially... How could I even have a destiny other than to serve those who created me? I stayed with Team Rocket until I couldn't take the constant wondering anymore. When I finally left, I realized I didn't need to wonder about it. If I don't have a destiny, then there is no benefit thinking about how I could possibly have one. Maybe I do have a destiny and it just has not shown its face to me yet."_

She continued staring at him, lost deep in thought. When she still didn't respond, Mewtwo shifted his weight forward and reached out a round finger to the sand. Lyric's eyes followed the finger.

He pushed the extremity lightly into the beige granules, and then dragged it a short distance, creating a darker and slightly deeper line where his finger was.

"_This line in the sand is your destiny. The remaining sand is your life. There are countless ways I could draw this line in the sand, and those ways represent the choices you can make in your life that can change your destiny."_

He then reached out his finger again and drew another line, as well as creating a few others nearby with his telekinesis.

"_These other lines in the sand are other destinies that you could choose."_

Lyric nodded as if she understood, so Mewtwo continued.

"_Now, does it matter that this beach was created naturally? A man-made beach could have just as many lines in the sand as any other beach. This represents the fact that you and I are clones. Just because we were not created by natural causes does not mean that our lives cannot be worthwhile–especially since we have the powers we were gifted with. Lyric, with these powers, we can do many things that others cannot. In many ways, being a clone is in fact a benefit."_

A wave, slightly larger than the rest, surged forward and covered the lines, washing them away partly. Another wave completed the erasure, and seeing this, Mewtwo's tone sombered as he stared at the void of sand where the lines once were.

"_Any event can destroy the destiny you had in mind."_

The waves continued to wash up the shore as they both stared down at the sand.

Lyric finally spoke.

"_There are some things I will never understand, Mewtwo. My destiny being one of those things. I go through life every day, not knowing what to expect. Meeting you... It was literally the last thing I ever expected to happen, and it was probably the best thing to happen to me so far. As for my destiny... I actually don't care. Maybe I don't have a destiny, and maybe I do. but what I really want to know is..."_

She let the silence sink in as Mewtwo waited for the rest of her words.

"_How in the hell can you ramble on like that for so long!"_

Mewtwo's jaw dropped in astonishment, which of course sent Lyric into a hysterical fit of laughter.

At that moment, as Lyric laughed at his gaping expression, Mewtwo could feel a wall between them dissipate. A wall of emotions and of their pasts that had been an obstacle for so long between them, finally falling. There was a moment where he thought the wall was an actual psychical barrier, seeing as how it felt so real to him. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of the female almost falling backwards from laughter.

"_I was merely attempting to..."_

He gave up with a sigh, seeing it was to no use. As her laughter slowly faded, she managed to utter a few words.

"_I will never understand you, Mewtwo."_

He gazed back at her reclined form, still smiling.

"_I will never understand you as well."_

They let the afterglow of the moment linger for as long as possible before finally getting off their haunches and resuming their journey to the church.

They were both silent as they levitated up to their original altitude, but it was a good silence. It was the type of silence that occurs when a friend says 'thank you' to another friend, after that friend has done something kind to the other.

:::::::

"I would just be glad you are still alive. The bomb was very badly positioned on the bus, and along with the fact that you managed to dive forward in time, I'd say you are very, very lucky. I think someone might be watching over you."

Giovanni didn't even chuckle at the thought of God rewarding _him _of all people.

The Rocket boss sitting on a hospital bed, frowning at the doctor that lingered by him. He had bandages wrapped around his upper torso, covering up some nasty burns caused by the explosion as well as a few puncture wounds from some small pieces of shrapnel.

"That bastard needs to be punished! Why hasn't he been caught yet? Wasn't my physical description enough?" He winced as his exertion sent pain down his spine.

The doctor raised his hands, as if to quiet the enraged man down, _"_Give it some time! It has only been a few hours."

"I am not going to know anything about who is trying to kill me unless we catch that man."

"I'm fairly certain he will be caught. Are you sure that the man with the detonator was the same man as the one with the clipboard?"

Giovanni glanced downwards. "Not exactly, but I know that the clipboard bastard had something to do with it. He was acting strange."

"Well, I guess we'll leave it to the police."

The doctor turned his back on the Rocket boss and continued.

"I predict that your recovery will take a few days until you are able to be active again. That burn will hurt for some time though, and if your unlucky, it will leave a nasty scar. I recommend not agitating the skin whatsoever once it starts blistering. The puncture wounds, if they don't get infected, should heal up nicely."

"...And there isn't any way you can speed that process up?"

The doctor winced, "I'm afraid so. There's not much you can do with puncture wounds. If it was just the burn, then you'd be out of here in no time, but puncture wounds can easily get infected, and since they are so deep, that can turn bad fast."

"Do I have to stay in this hellhole any longer?"

The doctor frowned at his words, but nevertheless, replied, "No... You can leave if you like, but just remember: no active movements. I can't stress enough that those puncture wounds stay clean and closed."

With that, the Rocket boss quickly stood up and winced with pain once again.

"Well, thank you for the diagnosis. The police will call me when they find the culprit, correct?"

"Yes, I gave them your office number."

Giovanni gently stretched his back, "Splendid."

As he walked out of the room, he missed a strange look from the doctor.

:::::::

Back at the headquarters, Giovanni turned down what seemed like the hundredth Rocket employee's question on how he got the bandages and what the explosion was.

"I can't talk about it right now... I have to take an important call."

He finally got to his office and closed the door behind him. It was the truth... He couldn't miss the call from the police and he was very eager to find out who had the audacity to try to kill him. _Him–_Giovanni, the leader of the largest crime organization on the planet. Whoever it was would pay for sure.

As he took a seat and leaned back in his chair, going through in his mind everyone he had had any type of relations with that could want to kill him, the phone rang. He snatched it off the hook before the first ring ended.

"This is Giovanni."

"_Sir, a Robert is here to see you. Should I let him in?"_

Giovanni grimaced. It was just his secretary. Robert had probably heard from someone about what had happened, and was only here to make sure he was 'okay.'

He couldn't turn down Robert though–he had done so much for the Rocket boss.

"Fine... let him in."

He returned the phone to it's receiver with a 'click' and stood up as the door opened. Robert stepped in the room.

"Giovanni! It's good to see you!"

He leaned over the desk and shook the Rocket boss' hand.

"I assume things are going according to plan?"

Giovanni frowned, "Hardly."

Robert straightened his outfit and stood up a bit straighter, "I'm here because... there's a slight problem in our plan."

Giovanni, intrigued, sat back down. "What is it?"

"Well... It's not as much of a problem as it is an update... The clone has left Rustboro and it looks like its headed back to Vermillion."

"Oh, really? What, did it think that we would just give up our search and let it live the rest of its happy life in peace?"

Robert fidgeted nervously, "I'm not sure... but you have a watch set up there, right?"

"Of course. I have constant surveillance of that area. I will be instantly informed if anything is disturbed."

"I suggest that you place a team there, or something along those lines. I would expect it to return to its former home–maybe to gather some personal belongings."

Giovanni nodded, "Very well, I will take your advice. Anything else?"

Robert thought about it for a moment.

"What about your bus? How will you get a new one?"

The Rocket boss smiled, "Fortunately, the bus that exploded was not the bus I ordered. It should arrive anytime. I don't see why the assassin couldn't have just waited to plant it on my bus, however... seems like he's a bit impatient."

"Impatient indeed... Well, I am glad you are still alive, old friend. The organization would be devastated without you."

"I try not to imagine that."

Robert straightened his outfit again and took a step back, "Very well, I'll leave you to recover. You will still update me on the clones, correct?"

"Of course, Robert."

The scientist walked out of the door and closed it, leaving a slightly annoyed Giovanni behind.

He was no closer to finding out who had tried to kill him.

:::::::

End of Chapter 27

:::::::

Summer is finally here, and a lot of free time along with it! Hopefully my updates will come a lot faster.

This chapter is sort of empty, but it was necessary, so I hope you enjoyed it.

My thanks to **Darkraifan462, **and **Kira the Dead Ninja **for reviewing the last chapter.

Please read and review!


	28. Chapter 28: Convergence

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 28: Convergence

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Alvar looked up, and cursed to himself.

There was no way through with out going into the grass.

He was still in a sylvan area, hopefully not far from Vermillion City. He had been traveling for a few days, and he was exhausted from the constant activity. He had tried to stay out of the very tall grass avoid any type of pokemon that might want to attack him, but it now looked like he would have to risk it.

The grass went well over his head, and he braced himself as he pushed through it.

The Skitty took a few steps in and sighed as the grass lessened. Trees surrounded him, and he desperately wished he could return to the main path that had suddenly disappeared. This was no place for him. He was urbanized.

He looked around. No wild pokemon were in sight, and hopefully none would appear in a response to the Skitty's disturbance. The kitten continued forward, hoping this forest would end soon.

Alvar froze as he saw a figure ahead, almost completely hidden by leaves. The figure was a Nidoran, and Alvar could tell it was a male by the color. It was about exactly the size of the kitten.

The Skitty looked for a way around the currently distracted Nidoran, but realized he had taken too long as he saw the wild pokemon turn around and stare at him quizzically. Not all wild pokemon are hostile, so Alvar slowly approached it. The Nidoran approached as well until they were in talking distance. Of course, Alvar couldn't exactly communicate with it, so he put on his best face.

His smile faded as he saw the pokemon's mouth begin to move. There was no way he could read its lips, seeing as that it did not speak the human language, and only spoke in varying syllables. Alvar was about to do something when he saw the Nidoran seem to anger at the kitten's lack of response.

_Oh... crap._

The Skitty tried to shake his head in an attempt to portray that he meant no disrespect, but it only further angered the wild pokemon. Alvar slowly backed away as he saw the Nidoran was growling.

_I don't want to fight you! I don't know how to fight!_

How he wished he was near Mewtwo so he could use telepathy! Mewtwo would get quite the earful from him once they met up again, if they ever did...

His thoughts were cut off as the easily enraged Nidoran ran towards him and tried to tackle him. Crying out in surprise, Alvar dove forward under the pokemon's tackle. It just missed the kitten, and the Nidoran skidded across the forest floor behind him.

Alvar ran, but the wild pokemon got up to its feet and chased after the kitten. He was charging, and was much faster than the Skitty. Alvar instantly realized that running was futile and tried to find a way that he could get out of this situation.

He veered to his left just as the pokemon was about to catch up, and it tried in vain to slow its charge. Alvar watched, wincing as the Nidoran tumbled head over heels multiple times. The somersaulting stunt hadn't deterred the angry pokemon, however, it had only made it angrier.

Alvar remembered that Nidoran had poisonous spikes on their bodies, and out in the forest, there was no way the kitten could find a cure for poison, so he made a mental note not to make any physical contact with it.

The pokemon struggled to return to its feet but succeeded, proceeding warily towards the kitten, assuming a battle stance. Alvar looked around for something he could use to battle it, but unless the Nidoran was allergic to grass and dirt, there was nothing.

The Nidoran was quick as it attempted to scratch Alvar across the face, but Skitty are known for their speed, and Alvar proved this by jumping back before the blow could land. Before the pokemon could react, Alvar sidestepped and swatted at it with his left paw, making sure to not make contact with any of the poisonous spilkes. The blow landed, but it wasn't very powerful. Alvar was fast, but he wasn't the strongest pokemon in the world.

He began formulating a plan where he could use his speed against the wild pokemon rather than his strength. The Nidoran was growling as the Skitty warily positioned himself behind a tree. The wild pokemon was too enraged to noticed this, and he readied another full-speed tackle.

...But Alvar was ready.

The Nidoran launched off its back legs and charged towards the seemingly frozen Skitty. Just as it was about to deliver a quite painful impact, Alvar jumped straight up in the air and the Nidoran ran under him. Unable to stop, it crashed into the fairly large tree with a crash and collapsed, unconscious.

Alvar landed and turned around to see the condition of the pokemon. Once he saw it was not going to be able to battle any more, he smiled at his apparent victory.

_Ouch... shouldn't have messed with me! The all-powerful pokemon, Alvar! I'm sorry, but was I too fast for you?_

As he finished gloating over the unconscious form of the Nidoran, he looked around, still smiling.

_Now what._..

A few trees down, he saw an opening in the forest. He paced over to the area, leaving the pokemon behind. The battling had somewhat tired him out, even though he had emerged unscathed.

He was surprised to see that it was a path. There was a sign on the opposite side of the path, and Alvar quickly hurried over to it.

Looking up at the faded sign with the words, 'VERMILLION CITY' on it, Alvar inwardly sighed a breath of relief. Finally, he was close to his destination.

If Mewtwo wasn't at the church... Alvar didn't know what he'd do.

He slowly entered the city, the trees fading and the buildings around him slowly increasing in number until he began recognizing things. He still had a few miles to go, but now at least he knew exactly where he was.

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At around the same time, Lyric and Mewtwo entered Vermillion city, but from the sky.

"_Mewtwo, is that Vermillion?_

"_Yes. I am surprised you recognize it already."_

Looking down at the large city below, she replied, "_It just looks like Vermillion from here. I can't really explain it."_

They steadily decreased their altitude and as they got closer to the ground, Mewtwo cloaked them from sight. They set down near a small building, about a mile from the church.

"_How far away from the church are we?"_

"_About one mile."_

She furrowed her brow. "_Why did we land so far away?"_

"_Team Rocket most likely has surveillance set up at the church because they think that we will return there."_

"_What exactly is the plan?"_

Mewtwo looked around, surveying the surrounding area as he replied to her.

"_I have no way of knowing how thorough their surveillance is. I can cloak us and teleport us in, and I can even hide our auras, if they have some kind of aura tracking device, but I can never know if they have created some new technology. I am fairly certain that my abilities will keep us hidden, however."_

There were people walking on the other side of the road, and a few cars were driving by, but for now, they were basically undisturbed.

"_Can we stay there... once we find Alvar?"_

She almost already knew the answer.

Mewtwo looked at her.

"_We are not safe there anymore, Lyric. We will have to find a new home."_

The first thing she noticed was that he hadn't said 'I.' He had said 'we.'

"_Mewtwo..."_

The way she said his name immediately captured his full attention.

"_If we ever do find a safe place to live... What is in store for our future?"_

The male clone looked away. He knew that he didn't have a future. Lyric didn't know it, but that tracking device made it impossible to ever have a safe place to live. Unless he somehow found a way to get rid of the bullet that was now a part of him, he would never be safe. His future would consist of running. Perpetual, unending running. Running from the ones that created him.

But she had said 'our.' If she stayed with him, her future would be the same as his. He couldn't have that.

"_Lyric..."_

She gazed at him intently. Her gaze only disheartened him more. He couldn't have her future ruined just because of him. Why should she be punished because of him?

Telling her that she had no future would only sadden her, so Mewtwo decided to bury the horrifying truth.

"_I do not know. I hope we will find a home."_

He lied to her again.

_But I am doing it for her benefit. I care for her too much._

He cared for her too much... He knew in the back of his mind that they were getting closer, and if they got to close, he knew he probably wouldn't be able to let her go. But how could he let her go? What would she do without him?

The paradox gave him a headache. Lyric seemed satisfied with Mewtwo's answer and she nodded.

"_I hope we find a home too. I can't imagine a life like this; constantly on the move."_

Mewtwo didn't talk much as they walked to the church. He lagged behind, lost in thought. As they were about halfway there, Lyric finally spoke up.

"_Mewtwo, is anything wrong?"_

Yes, something was wrong. He was trying to decide whether he was hurting or helping the one he cared about.

"_I am alright. We must get to the church before Alvar does. Team Rocket could harm him."_

It was nice to get his mind off of the topic as they both hurried to get to the church.

:::::::

The bus had arrived the day after Giovanni returned to his office. Eager to pursue the female clone as well as the male, he immediately began organizing a team to go.

Sitting in his office, he answered the phone, hoping that it was the police telling him that they had caught the man who tried to kill him. It was his receptionist. Apparently the team was finally ready.

He got up and headed outside. When he reached the parking lot where the real bus was parked, he saw that a dozen Rockets had assembled near the bus and had been waiting for them. Among the assembly was Robert.

As he approached them, Robert was the first to speak.

"Giovanni! It looks like we're ready for our little trip."

"Yes we are."

All the Rocket grunts around them were silent.

The driver seemed a bit more social, and spoke up, "Alright Giovanni, should we load up?"

"Yes, lets load up. Do you know where we're going?"

"No, I was hoping that you would tell me."

Giovanni took the tracking device out of his jacket pocket and looked at it. He hadn't checked it in a while and was eager to see where the mewtwo was. Robert came up behind him to see as well.

The device began booting up. Once it was finished, Giovanni brought the device closer to his face.

He looked up at the driver, then back down at the device. "We are going to..."

The location popped up on the screen, and Giovanni's eyes widened in surprise.

"Vermillion."

The Rocket boss looked back at Robert. "It looks like your suspicions were right. The clone is headed towards its home at the church."

"Interesting. I would think that the clone would have more sense than that."

"All the easier for us, right?"

The group filed in the bus, with Giovanni and Robert in the front.

"Vermillion?" the bus driver asked. "It will take around an hour and a half to arrive."

Giovanni answered him, "Well, try to hurry. Those clones could literally disappear any second."

"Of course, sir."

With that, the bus drove off.

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They had been driving for over an hour when Giovanni got a phone call. The Rocket Boss answered his cell phone.

"Hello?"

"_Giovanni? We are at the church in Vermillion. There were some unknown disturbances..."_

"Disturbances? What do you mean?"

"_Well... I'm not sure, but there was a Skitty..."_

That was all Giovanni needed to hear. They were too late. But maybe...

"Driver, hurry up! We might be too late."

He replied nervously, "Yes sir," and Giovann's anxiety was comforted only slightly by the increased hum of the bus engines as it sped up.

_They are not getting away..._

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End of Chapter 28

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My first battle scene... tell me how you like it!

Thanks to **Kira the Dead Ninja **and **Darkraifan462 **for reviewing the last chapter! I very much appreciate all feedback I get.

Please read and review!


	29. Chapter 29: Chiasm

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 29: Chiasm

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**Previously:**

After making it through the pokemon infested forest, Alvar finally gets to Vermillion on his long trek to get back to the church. Meanwhile, Mewtwo and Lyric also make it to Vermillion from the sky, but can they get to the church fast enough to protect Alvar from Team Rocket, advancing on their position?

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_Where am I..._

In the middle of a large, populous city, that's where he was.

_This should be familiar... Why isn't any of this familiar?_

Alvar was walking in the shadows down an unknown street in Vermillion. It was the middle of the day, and cars were whizzing by more numerous than usual. Thankfully the sidewalks were relatively empty.

Looking around, the kitten could not see a single familiar thing. Since he rarely traveled, (Mewtwo teleported him anywhere he needed to be) this was expected, but Alvar still had a hard time believing that he didn't know his home town whatsoever.

_A coffee shop... A barber shop... Fast Food... Donuts..._

Nothing he recognized. It seemed like a completely new city to him.

Walking a few blocks down the street, crossing the intersections quickly, he approached a forest, urbanized around the outside, but remaining untouched in the inside. Something about the forest was familiar, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was...

...That was until he entered the forest and approached the river running through it.

_Hey! This is the river Mewtwo takes me to bathe! _

His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the knotted tree Mewtwo always leaned against whenever he impatiently waited for the Skitty to finish bathing.

_Finally, something I recognize!_

His perky composure suddenly drooped as the realization hit him:

He still didn't know where he was.

Sure, he had been here all the time, but Mewtwo had always_ teleported _him here. He had no idea where he was in relation to the city.

_Dang it, I'm still lost!_ The kitten punched the grass with his paw angrily, and then winced and shook it as pain resulted.

Once the pain subsided, he slouched down, defeated, and moped back to the street to begin wandering again.

Thirty minutes passed and the kitten traveled deeper into the city. He walked by the hospital, which was slightly comforting because he knew that Maya was there, but it didn't benefit his predicament. He _almost_ went into a mall to ask for directions in desperation, but decided against it, knowing communication with humans would be extremely difficult.

Another fifteen minutes passed when a heavenly smell captured Alvar's senses.

_That smell..._

Somehow, the scent of a sweet pastry had made its way through the scents of exhaust and other city-dwelling odors, and as it reached Alvar, he almost jumped in excitement.

_I know that smell! That's the pastries next to the church!_

He was sure of it. Whenever Mewtwo opened the window in the morning, that scent would seep into the attic and Alvar always enjoyed when it did. It put the kitten in a good mood, but apparently Mewtwo always lost his sense of smell in the mornings because he was usually as crabby as ever.

He bounded towards the smell, his nose leading the way, but stopped as a large group of people approached down the sidewalk. He scrambled off into a dark corner and the group paid him no attention so he continued on.

Trying to balance the use of two of his senses: sight and smell, he pressed forward, not paying any attention to the places he passed. He only looked ahead, seeing if he could see the church.

The minutes passed and the smell grew stronger and stronger until it seemed like he was surrounded by it. Still he couldn't see the church, or any pastries for that matter. He turned left around a building before he could get too disappointed and froze. This street looked familiar to him...

He quickly scanned down the street and jumped in excitement as he saw his destination.

_The church! Finally!_

There was the church. Old and worn, it stood out like a sore thumb in the center of the bustling metropolis, but it was beautiful to the Skitty. It was his home.

He ran to it, suspecting nothing, not caring if any passerby saw him. Approaching it rather quickly due to the high speed he was running at, he almost tripped entering the cathedral and running up the stairs.

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"Whoa, what was that!"

The second Rocket grunt opened his eyes slowly, not sitting up from the comfortable lean he had positioned himself in on the side of the van window, "What..."

The first Rocket grunt, sitting in the driver's seat of a van parked across the street from the church turned to the groggy one.

"Some black blur just ran into that church! Did you see it?"

When the other man only stared back, he continued, "You were supposed to be watching..."

"Good thing you were then," he replied, stoically. "What was it?"

The first grunt looked back to the church, "I don't know, all I saw was black. It was really small, about as big as... a car tire or something."

The second man stared back at the first once again.

"...Are you sure you weren't hallucinating? Because you haven't gotten sleep in... what... twenty—"

"I wasn't hallucinating! I definitely saw it. We should go check on it. What goes in a church on week days?"

The second grunt sighed, "We're looking for man-sized pokemon, not tire-sized blurs. I'm sure it was just a shadow or something."

The first grunt continued staring at the entrance to the church. The second grunt continued, "And even if it's something we need to check out, won't the other guys on the warehouse roof nearby go do it?"

The man sitting at the driver's seat didn't reply. The man across from him assumed victory and closed his eyes to rest, but they immediately snapped back open as the first man spoke.

"Well, I'm going to check it out. I'm sick of this damn, stuffy van anyways. Come if you want to."

The second grunt sighed, closed his eyes, and repositioned himself against the window as the first man got out of the car. As the door slammed closed, however, the second man opened his eyes and sighed again, realizing that he was sick of the van as well.

He somewhat reluctantly got out of the car as well and strode to follow the first grunt, already halfway across the street.

"Hey, wait up!"

The first man stopped at the sidewalk nearest to the church and let the second man catch up.

"Sick of the van too?"

The second grunt reached the sidewalk the first man was standing at and took in a deep breath of air, standing up straight, "You could say that."

They both approached the entrance of the church simultaneously and entered, wary as they opened the door.

:::::::

As Alvar burst through the door of the attic, he stopped and looked around.

No one was there.

Staring at the emptiness in horror, thoughts began racing through his mind.

_Where are they! Why aren't they here?_

He paced over to Mewtwo's—now Lyric's bed and tried thinking of logical explanations.

_They're probably just out doing things... Like taking a bath or something like that. If I wait here, they'll probably come back._

He knew that this was most likely false.

_Mewtwo teleported me, but he knew that he wouldn't know where I would teleport to... Why would he do that? And why wasn't he searching for me? Did he abandon me?_

Alvar knew for sure that Mewtwo wouldn't abandon him. There was absolutely no reason for the clone to do such a thing. But then, where were they?

Alvar made a mental note to ask Mewtwo what the hell he was thinking when he teleported him, along with all the other diatribes he'd get from the kitten when he returned.

Having convinced himself that Mewtwo and Lyric would return, he hopped up onto the bed and looked around at the room. It was exactly as they had left it. Clean and organized. The sheet separating Mewtwo's area from the rest of the room had fallen, but that was the only thing out of the ordinary.

The kitten hopped of the bed and turned the corner, his goal to head up the stairs to the roof, but froze at what he saw.

Covering the floor and many of the stairs was blood. Lots of dried blood.

He jumped backwards in surprise and stared in horror at the gruesome sight.What the hell had happened here?

He backed away from the blood until he bumped into the wall behind, still staring at the red-stained stairs. His attention was suddenly drawn away from the blood as the door leading down to the cathedral opened and two men walked in.

Every eye in the room widened as they took in what they saw.

The first grunt spoke up first, "_Hey... Whoa, it's a black Skitty..."_

The Skitty, terrified, tried backing up away from the men, but the wall behind him prevented him from doing so.

"_Who are you? Why are you here?"_

The man took a step forward, but paused in realization.

"_Did it just... talk?"_

Alvar, realizing as well, asked himself the same question, "_Did I just talk?"_

The first grunt and Alvar stared at each other with wide eyes and the second grunt, standing behind the first, spoke in amazement, "What... is going on..."

:::::::

Over the skies of Vermillion, the two clones raced toward the church. Lyric, not knowing the way, followed Mewtwo.

"_We are not far Lyric. We will arrive back at home soon."_

"_Good, because I'm actually starting to get sick of flying..."_

The moment she finished the sentence, she froze and curled into a ball as pain spiked through her mind. She began to plummet, and Mewtwo, seeing her fall out of the corner of his eye, caught her with his telekinesis.

Lyric's vision faded to black as the world faded around her. Nothing but what was inside of her mind existed anymore.

:::::::

First there was nothing, but then, in her mind's eye, Lyric saw a man. It was Giovanni.

Everything was dark but Giovanni. Shadows existed and didn't exist at the same time. It was like the darkness had taken the form of a gas and was swirling around, enveloping everything.

Through the black, Giovanni's arm was outstretched and in his hand he was pointing something. It was a gun. The gun was also enveloped in shadow, and it was as if it was made by the darkness itself.

There was an unknown shadowed figure at the other end of the gun, and Giovanni was smiling, staring down in victory.

His lips curled back and he spoke, almost evilly, "I win."

:::::::

The vision faded and Lyric returned to the real world. Mewtwo was holding her, asking her if she was okay. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared into his, watching as relief seeped into the amethyst orbs of the male clone.

"_Lyric, you fainted..."_

Suddenly sitting up, but gently enough that she was not thrown from his grasp, she replied, "_I saw something..."_

Intrigued, his worry fading, Mewtwo responded, "_You saw something? What did you see?"_

She went over the contents of the vision in her head, trying to decipher whether she saw the figure who was at the other end of the gun or not.

"_It doesn't matter. We need to get to the church. Alvar could be in trouble."_

Mewtwo was surprised at this, "_Are you certain you are alright?"_

Lyric nodded in response, and Mewtwo stated resolutely, "_We are very close to the church. Only a few more moments of travel and we should be able to see it from the skies."_

After making sure Lyric could levitate properly again, they both continued flying. As the two clones spied the church from above, Mewtwo made sure that they were cloaked.

"_There's the church! We made it!" _Lyric said happily.

They both quickly made there way down in altitude, drawing closer to the church, but Mewtwo froze in midair as he did a quick aural scan, stopping Lyric behind him.

"_Mewtwo... What's wrong?"_

He took a moment to answer, letting what he had found out sink in, "_Alvar is in the church, along with two humans."_

They both continued downward movement, this time hurriedly.

"_Really? Is he okay?"_

As they rapidly descended, growing closer to the roof, Mewtwo replied, worry lacing his normally calm, telepathic voice, "_I cannot tell."_

They landed on the roof and were about to head down the stairs when they heard the human's voices. Mewtwo stopped and listened:

"Why is this blood still here? You were supposed to clean it up!"

"I told _you_ to clean it up!"

"Well, what do we do with this... talking cat?"

"I don't know... tell the guys on the warehouse. They can tell Giovanni."

Mewtwo then heard the man speaking to who he assumed were men stationed at the warehouse across the street through some kind of communication device.

"There's some kind of really weird Skitty down here... I don't know what it has to do with those clones, but it might be important and you should tell Giovanni."

Making sure they were still cloaked so the men across the street at the warehouse couldn't see them, Mewtwo turned around, ready to run down the stairs, but froze as he saw Lyric staring at the blood, _his _blood, covering the stairs and the roof floor around them.

"_Mewtwo... What is this..."_

Not knowing how to explain, Mewtwo, hearing the humans in the attic continue unintelligibly, stammered, "_We... must help Alvar."_

In a stupor, Lyric followed him down the stairs, avoiding the blood.

Mewtwo entered the room, followed close behind by the very confused female clone, and the two humans stopped what they were doing and stared at the two mewtwos that had suddenly entered.

The first grunt stuttered, "Wh—what... Holy _fuck_!"

"_Mewtwo!"_

The male clone rapidly turned his head to see Alvar cowered in the corner, staring at him with wide eyes.

Before he had a chance to respond to the kitten, he sent a strong psychic wave through the room, knocking the two grunts out before they could do anything.

As the humans collapsed to the floor, their eyes rolling back into their heads, Mewtwo stepped forward to the Skitty.

"Alvar! What did they do to you?"

The kitten stared at Mewtwo, then at Lyric, who was frozen with wide eyes behind the clone.

"_What? Mewtwo, where were you?"_

He ignored the question, "_Did they hurt you?"_

Alvar shook his head, "_No, I'm fine... What the hell is going on! What happened?"_

As the adrenaline wore off, Mewtwo looked around the attic, and once he was satisfied that they were safe for the time being, he tried to explain, switching glances between Alvar and Lyric. He found looking at Lyric's stunned expression was much harder.

"_I... was attacked. By Team Rocket."_

Alvar and Lyric both stared in surprise at the blood again. Alvar spoke up, "_That's _your_ blood?"_

"_Yes... I was shot by a sniper stationed across the street from the church, but I recovered quickly with my healing abilities and was able to teleport us to safety before they could do any more harm to us."_

Alvar stared back at him, his amazement combined with the brink of rage.

"_To safety?" … "You teleported me FREAKING UNDERWATER! How the hell is that supposed to be safe?"_

As this sunk in to Mewtwo, his jaw dropped open in a loss of words.

Lyric broke the silence from behind him.

"_You were shot? Why didn't you tell me you had been shot?"_

The shock wearing off, Mewtwo tried to decide which question to answer first.

"_Alvar... The machine that led Team Rocket here also emits a signal that scrambles my psychic patterns somehow... It makes the locations of teleportation completely random."_

He then turned to Lyric.

"_I did not find it necessary to tell you something that would only bring you pain. I am not injured anymore..."_

"_How could you not tell me?"_

Alvar and Lyric both stared at Mewtwo in confusion and amazement. The male clone looked back at both of them, not knowing what to say.

This time, the silence was interrupted by a voice coming from one of the unconscious human's pockets:

"_I spoke to Giovanni. He said he's on his way. What's going on down there?"_

The three pokemon in the attic stared at the form of the unconscious man, trying to piece together what was happening.

Mewtwo finally replied.

"_I will... try to explain my self once we are safe from Team Rocket. They know we are here, and it is only a matter of time before they arrive. I cannot be sure as to how powerful they have become. Giovanni will capture us and make us his slaves, and I cannot let that happen."_

Knowing that their safety was more important than being angry at Mewtwo, Lyric and Alvar accepted his words.

"_Where do we go Mewtwo. If we can't stay here, than where can we stay."_

Mewtwo looked out the window, trying to formulate a response to Lyric's question. "_I do not know yet, but we need to get away from here. I ask you both to follow me away from the church. Once we are safe I will plan what to do next."_

Lyric and Alvar looked at the deep-red, dried blood on the floor one last time before following Mewtwo out of the attic and down into the cathedral area, making sure they couldn't be seen.

:::::::

As the bus pulled into the church parking lot, all of the Rockets filed out and Giovanni came out last along with Robert.

"Giovanni, what is going on? Is it the clones?"

Robert had been asking questions the entire way, and Giovanni was growing tired of it.

"There is a pokemon that I think is living with them. If it is here, that means the clones can't be far behind."

The Rockets entered the church and made there way up the stairs to the attic. Giovanni stepped in front of all the grunts so he was leading the way. As he strode through the attic door, he saw a grunt on the ground just waking up. There was another nearby still unconscious, but other than him, the room was empty.

He immediately spoke as the other Rockets filed into the room, "You. What happened here."

As the grunt slowly awoke, he rubbed his temples, "Agh... Headache..."

He looked up nervously at the Rocket boss' piercing glare and slowly and groggily got to his feet.

"Er... There was this talking cat... sir. And then there was the two clones! I saw them! They walked down from the roof and stared at us... and then... that's all I can remember..."

Giovanni's glare was like a deadly laser beam.

"So you let them get away?"

The first grunt only stuttered, "Umm..."

Giovanni reached a hand down to his waist, grabbed something, and then whipped it forward revealing a gun now positioned directly on the man's forehead. The Rocket boss hesitated only for a moment, but remembered that there were grunts watching that needed to be taught a lesson.

Before the man could beg, Giovanni pulled the trigger. With a 'bang', the bullet left the handgun and embedded itself into the grunts forehead. The man's head snapped back and his body crumpled to the floor. Blood splattered onto the floor and the walls, mixing into the blood that was already there.

Satisfied, Giovanni turned to the group of grunts as well as Robert behind him. They were all staring at the dead man, eyes wide.

"We cannot afford mistakes. Our mission will be a success, and I wont let fools get in our way. Those clones will be captured. Those clones are mine."

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End of Chapter 29

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I like how this chapter turned out, as it was a pivotal chapter after all. I'd say that this is one of my favorite chapters.

Thank you for the reviewers in the last chapter, I truly hope you all will continue reading this story, as you can see, it is rapidly unfolding.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, if that's possible... See you soon!


	30. Chapter 30: Shadowed

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 30: Shadowed

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**Previously:**

After _barely_ making it to the church to save Alvar from two Team Rocket grunts on guard, Mewtwo and Lyric once again leave the church, escaping from the rapidly approaching Giovanni, but not without Lyric and Alvar seeing Mewtwo's blood all over the church floor. Lyric also had a confusing vision in the middle of the action; a vision which she had no time to contemplate afterward.

:::::::

"_The clones got away from Team Rocket again._"

The shadowed figure stood by the pay phone and smiled, lowering the phone it held in its hand for only a second before it raised it again to answer.

"Perfect. The Technical Machine is fixed and ready to use, I assume?"

"_Yes, the TM has been modified and perfected. It is ready to be picked up whenever you want."_

The shadowed figure smiled again. Everything was going exactly as planned...

"I am coming to pick it up now. Thank you for everything, once again."

"_Of course. You've done so much for me, I had to return the favor."_

Making sure not to stay on the phone to long, the figure concluded the conversation, "You did it yourself, don't thank me. I will be over soon, please be ready."

There was a pause before the voice on the other line answered, "_I'll be ready."_

With that, the figure hung up and walked away from the pay phone. It stayed in the shadows and sped up its pace. It was running out of time.

_I can't let Giovanni get to the clones before me..._

The figure continued walking, wearing a black cloak to cover its features.. Even though its destination was relatively a short distance away, it was long on foot, and it was still light out. Traveling in the light was always dangerous, but it had to get that Technical Machine as soon as possible. It would solve all of its problems.

After thirty minutes of constant, brisk walking with no interruptions, the still shadowed figure arrived at a door and knocked. Very quickly, the door opened, and a tall man stood in the doorway.

"Ah, you're here."

Without waiting for a reply, he held out a small, opaque green bag. "The 'TM' is in there. Inject it into your bloodstream and I'm fairly sure within a few minutes the data should be implanted in your brain. I haven't tested the product yet; human TMs are yet to be invented and I still don't know whether the human brain can take a sudden increase in information... So it might hurt."

The shadowed figure replied immediately, "It will be worth it no matter how severe the pain."

It took the green bag from the tall man's hand and examined it, "This product didn't mutate this time, correct? I can't have another mistake; it could cost me my life."

"No, the product will work to its intended purpose. I am sure of it. Don't mess up on the injection... That's the only sample I have."

"I won't mess it up."

The tall man nodded, "Good luck, then."

With that, the shadowed figure turned around as the door closed behind it. It needed to find somewhere private to inject itself. The figure walked a bit until he found such a space.

Nervously fumbling with the green bag and almost dropping it, the figure took out the contents of the bag. It was a translucent plastic case containing the supposed 'human' TM. The figure stared at the marvel of technology for a few more moments before it opened the case, carefully taking the syringe out.

It was filled with a reflective, chrome-colored liquid, resembling some kind of lustrous, thin mercury. The liquid sloshed around in the vial, shining and reflecting the light, almost like a mirror.

Not wasting any time, the shadowed figure positioned the syringe above his arm and relaxed its muscles as it carefully drove the point of the needle down into a vein. The injection brought only a pinprick of pain, but as the fluid raced through the figures bloodstream up to its brain, the pain came; _fast._

:::::::

Walking out of the church, Giovanni immediately turned to the flustered scientist, with a stern undertone to his voice, "Where are they now, Robert?"

Robert quickly pulled out the tracking device from out of his jacket pocket and scanned it quickly.

"It looks like... The pokemon is headed north of here... slightly east... towards the border of the city."

"Have they reached the forest yet?" the Rocket boss replied.

Checking the device again, Robert answered his question, "No, not yet, but they're getting close. I think they're flying based on the speed that they are moving."

Wasting no time, Giovanni walked forward, motioning for all the Rocket grunts filing out of the church to follow him, "Get in the bus and trail them."

:::::::

Looking back, Mewtwo scanned the area for any traces of Giovanni and his team. He uncloaked the three of them for only a second so he could better use his scanning ability. He found no traces of them, but still wasn't satisfied; nevertheless, he remained uncloaked and turned to face Lyric and Alvar.

They had fled from the church as soon as possible and were now standing in a very dense forested area around the borders of Vermillion. Vegetation surrounded them and the trees above nearly filtered all the sunlight from the sun that was now descending behind the mountains, welcoming nighttime. The darkness hadn't fully developed yet, so there was still enough light to see and walk around, even under the trees, but it wouldn't last for much longer.

Looking around at the trees, Lyric spoke up for the first time since they left, _"We're safe here, right?"_

Mewtwo didn't answer and looked around for an area that would be even slightly comfortable. When she realized he wasn't answering, she continued, _"How could they possibly find us in here?"_

Alvar, who had also spoken very little since they had departed from the church, looked up at Mewtwo, "_I don't even know where we are. Looks like the middle of nowhere..."_

Mewtwo stopped looking around and turned to them, "_We are in a dense forest around the perimeter of Vermillion. It is roughly a quarter of the area of the city itself."_

The male clone slowly walked to a nearby, large oak tree and sat on his haunches, his back against the base of the tree. He didn't make eye contact with either of the other two.

Assuming from Mewtwo's action that they were safe for the time being, Lyric did the same on nearby tree and let out a deep breath as she hit the ground, her back against the tree. Alvar, not following suit, walked the other direction away from them and weakly spoke, "_I have to... go to the bathroom..."_

The two mewtwos stared at the kitten as he made his way out of sight into the forest. Lyric kept his gaze on Alvar until he was out of sight, but Mewtwo shifted his gaze to the ground.

They kept the silence between them for a while longer. Lyric stared at Mewtwo, who still had his focus on seemingly nothing as he stared unwaveringly at the soil and vegetation covering the forest ground.

_What could he possibly be thinking about?_

Mewtwo's face was void of emotion to the untrained eye, but after being around him for so long, Lyric could see through his facade. He was going through a great internal struggle; like two sides of himself were waging war against each other.

"_Mewtwo."_

At the sound of his name, he broke his gaze with the floor and met Lyric's eyes.

"_Why didn't you tell me that you were shot?"_

It was a simple question, but Mewtwo knew that many more questions were attached. She wanted to know why he betrayed her trust; why he would hurt her by leaving out such a pivotal part of his life.

"_I care for you too much, Lyric."_

_What would have happened if I told her? She would have reacted in shock and empathy, feeling unnecessary sorrow for me. Perhaps guilt; if she would have not been involved in my life, then I would have never been shot._

These were all things that could easily be avoided by omitting the truth, which was the path that Mewtwo took; but things didn't go exactly as planned.

_Lyric is wondering why I betrayed her trust, and if I tell her the truth... the truth about the tracking device now implanted in me... it would only cause her more pain. Whenever she would be around me, she would be in danger, and if she does decide to stay with me... that isn't possible. There is not any plausible way that this situation could end in our favor unless I remove the bullet from my body, which is very unlikely, or unless Giovanni and his team stops searching for us completely, which there is nearly no chance of. I could omit the truth again, and avoid that pain, but haven't I learned my lesson? How would that help the situation? She would always wonder why we could never stay in one place for an extended time, and I would have no explanation for her._

He looked up at her, wondering what her response to his statement was. She was staring at the ground, her mind most likely racing. Finally, she looked up at him, confidence welling in her eyes.

"_Mewtwo, every day I look at you, and I'm reminded of how thankful I am that you saved me. Without you, I would be dead in every sense of the word; you have done all these things for me, and I care for you so much... I probably even love you, but how could you possibly lie to me because you care for me?_

That brought Mewtwo's entire thought process to a dead stop.

_She... loves me? How could she love me when I just lied to her?_

Mewtwo had never been in love, but he knew the definition of the word. Love was the deep feeling of affection between two beings; It was a strong emotion of devotion and regard. Did Lyric really feel that way about him; and did he feel that way about Lyric as well?

"_Mewtwo, I chose my destiny a long time ago. I knew we were destined to be together the moment I first saw you. My line in the sand has been drawn, and it runs beside yours. I want for the rest of my life to be with you."_

This was the worst possible time for her to reveal how she felt about him. If she loved him, then that meant she would definitely stay with him, even if they could never settle down.

Mewtwo couldn't do that to her. He couldn't sentence her to a life of running; a life of danger, just because he was too selfish.

He had to let go of her because he cared for her.

"_Lyric... I can't..."_

Even before the words left his mouth, he knew there was no turning back. They couldn't be together, and he knew for sure that the path he was about to take was the best path for them, even if it meant taking some extreme sacrifices. He would have to face the threat that had caused him all this pain.

As she took in his response, she felt like she was being torn in two. It was like everything she had ever believed in had just been proven wrong. He didn't want her to be in his life. He didn't share the feelings that she had... But what was the reason? What had she done?

_Why would he reject me?_

She stared at his face, shrouded in sorrow and regret, "_But... Why-"_

Before she could finish her sentence, she was cut off by unconsciousness. A single tear ran down her cheek as darkness enveloped her and she collapsed to the ground, her mind ravaged by another unknown vision:

:::::::

_It was so blurry._

_There was a room; a warm room. The warmth and light seemed to come from a fire, but the blur increased uncertainty. The room was very small, but there were decorations covering the walls and a large light source on the ceiling. There was a indeterminable figure positioned at the center of the room. The figure radiated warmth as well, but also sorrow._

_The figure was sitting at a desk with a blurred object in its hand. It was writing on a piece of paper, but the words were to blurry to read. Then, something fell from the figure and hit the paper. The blur had started to increase so the identity of the fallen object was unknown. As the blur increased still, the room became an indeterminable splotch of colors, until it faded out of vision completely._

:::::::

_Another vision followed right after the previous one. This time it was located at a bird's-eye view of an alley. It was the alley that Lyric had stayed in most of her life._

_There was the cardboard shelter, and the dumpster positioned right next to it. In the center of the alley, there was Lyric, backing away from two humans that approached her. The humans descended upon her and began doing physical harm to her; beating her._

_Unknown to the two humans, another human came from out of the shelter up behind the other humans and knocked them out with an object, causing them to crumple to the ground. The pokemon lying beaten on the floor fell unconscious, and the human dropped the object and stared at the creature before carefully dragging it into the shelter._

_This vision blurred as well, and zoomed out of focus as it faded to black._

:::::::

"_Lyric! Lyric, you okay?"_

Her eyes fluttered open as she heard the familiar voice of Alvar. He was gently shaking her, trying to wake her up, and once the kitten saw that she was waking, he immediately stopped the shaking.

"_Hey! You're awake!_ _What happened? I came back here and you were just collapsed on the floor..."_

Lyric slowly sat up, rubbing her head from the headache her visions gave her.

"_I had a vision..."_

She was still trying to decipher what the visions meant, when Alvar eagerly replied, "_A vision? What kind of vision? What did you see?"_

Lyric was about to answer until she looked around. She was still lying right where she was before she collapsed, but something was wrong...

Mewtwo was gone.

:::::::

End of Chapter 30

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There's only a few more chapters to go in this story if everything goes as planned. I sincerely hope that the conclusion turns out great and that I don't screw it up...

I tried to make Mewtwo's disappearance believable, and I think I somewhat succeeded, but it's hard to get his thought processes in the third person. If only this story was in first person... I'd like to know all of your thoughts on this; whether Mewtwo would really leave them to do what he's about to do.

Anyways, emotion is really hard and strenuous to write, and no matter how many times I revise it, I always think that I end up with an unrealistic and fake section. There's no exception with this chapter, but I did my best, and I hope you all enjoyed it!

Thanks to **Fractalman **for reviewing the last chapter! As always I appreciate it and hope you all continue to read and review!


	31. Chapter 31: Beginning of the End Part I

::::::::

Title: Lines in the Sand  
Author: Shinymonkey8  
Chapter 31: The Beginning of the End – Part I

::::::::

**Previously:**  
Having escaped with Giovanni's team close behind, Mewtwo, Lyric and Alvar temporarily hide in a dense forest around the perimeter of Vermillion. As they rest, Lyric finally reveals her genuine feelings toward Mewtwo: that she truly loves him and she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. Mewtwo knows that because of the tracking device, they could never be safe as long as they or Giovanni live. Because of this, he denies her request to live together, and as Lyric falls into another mysterious vision, Mewtwo leaves Lyric and Alvar behind without telling them his intentions...

:::::::

"_Where are we going?"_  
The kitten looked down and his eyes widened slightly. The two pokemon were floating high above the city of Vermillion. Lyric was floating ahead of Alvar, using her skill of levitation to keep the kitten aloft. The kitten was very light, so this was not a problem for her. The sun was setting, its rays a deep, comforting shade of orange. It was a magnificently beautiful sight... If only they could enjoy it...

"_We're looking for Mewtwo."_

Alvar assumed a confused look and tried gazing up at Lyric, but since he didn't have any control over how his body moved in mid-air, this was difficult for him."_Looking for him? Are you saying that you don't know where he is?"_

The female clone didn't answer. Instead,she set both of them down on the top of a short skyscraper they were passing by. Upon reaching the cement roof, Lyric collapsed against a wall and broke into restrained sobs.

Alvar immediately noticed this and wanted to say something, but found it much too awkward. In any case, it probably wouldn't have gotten him anywhere, seeing that he knew nothing about the situation she was going through. Instead, the Skitty let the lavender pokemon release her emotions, waiting patiently by her side.

Once she finally finished, which took longer than the kitten expected, she gazed at the ground, still leaning against the wall.

"_I... don't understand why he would leave me."_

She gave a disheartened glance in Alvar's direction, her eyes glimmering in the receding sunlight; "_What did I do? Is it my fault?"_

Alvar, finally knowing the truth, spoke up, "_He left you?"_

The both gazed at the ground after this; Alvar was deep in thought, trying to figure out an answer. Lyric, on the other hand, was still trying to cope with the emotions that now overwhelmed her.

Before Lyric could say anything else, Alvar voiced his thoughts.

"_I'm pretty sure that he didn't leave you because of something you did. You both are absolutely destined to be together, and there is no way that Mewtwo doesn't know that. He is like... five times smarter than me at least... He has to know that."_

Lyric broke her gaze with the ground as Alvar continued, "_So maybe there's something holding him back from wanting to be with you... And I still don't understand why he didn't tell us that he was shot..."_

Lyric stared at him curiously, intrigued by his words. Alvar begun pacing back and forth, his mind racing, "_None of this makes any sense, Lyric. Why were we running? Mewtwo could easily cloak us whenever he wanted, and those Rockets could never find us! So why can't we settle down?"_

Lyric finally spoke up, "_Mewtwo cares for me, and I know he would never purposefully hurt me. The only reason that he would be leaving me was if it was keeping me safe..."_

She looked up, the puzzle pieces slowly fitting together in her mind, "_And that would mean that if he stayed with me... I would be unsafe."_

Alvar tried to understand, "_Are you saying... Mewtwo has a contagious disease or something?"_

Lyric shook her head negatively at the kitten's statement.

"_I think he's drawing Team Rocket away from us... Somehow, they always know where he is at all times..."_

Alvar jumped up in realization, pushing out air from his nostrils as he did so; "_That bullet! The bullet from when he got shot! Maybe that's transmitting his position!"_

Lyric nodded, "_That would explain everything..."_

Without warning, she dropped to the floor and curled up into a ball. Clenching her teeth, her paws pressed up against her forehead. Her mind was in the grip of another vision...

:::::::

_The alley. She was looking down at the alley. There was the cardboard shelter that she had lived in all those months._

_A man came out of the shelter. It was the old man. He walked over to the familiar green dumpster and grabbed a plate of food that was sitting at the base. Before taking it back inside to where she was waiting, he pulled something out of his tattered pants pocket. It was some kind of a vial, but the man was keeping it concealed. Quickly, the man poured the contents of the vial onto the plate and only after doing this, brought it back into the shelter. As he disappeared inside, the vision began to fade..._

:::::::

As Lyric opened her eyes, her brain jumped back into the real world. She frantically looked around and saw Alvar staring at her.

"_Another vision?"_

Lyric only pondered the vision for a moment.

_Did the old man poison me? Obviously not... Then what did he put in my food?_

She didn't have time to wonder about her vision, and she knew it.

Without answering the kitten, she rose from the ground and levitated away from the skyscraper, bringing Alvar along with her.

"_Lyric, where are we going now?"_

"_Mewtwo is going to face Giovanni alone. We have to find him."_

Alvar thought for a moment before answering, "_Well... where is Team Rocket? How are we going to find Mewtwo?_

The female clone didn't answer. Instead, she slowed the duo's levitation to a stop and closed her eyes, pressing the balls of her paws to her forehead. At first, Alvar thought that it was another vision, but after thinking on it more carefully, he realized that they were still aloft.

_I need to find Mewtwo... _Lyric thought. _I need to sense his aura... I have to..._

She entered the depths of her own mind, trying to expand her aura to the city around her; trying to _see _the city in her mind's eye. To her surprise, it worked, but not exactly as she expected. She couldn't see the city, she could _feel _it. Somehow, the clone found that she could metaphorically look around the city. It was reminiscent of sonar, and everything seemed to blur into reality once she focused her mind on it.

Sensing downwards, towards the streets, she felt dozens of auras.

_These are human auras, _she thought to herself. She could feel the _color_of the auras, and each one was a different hue.

Quickly exploring the city in her mind, she levitated forward at the same time with her paws still pressed to her head, bringing Alvar forward, who was waiting patiently for Lyric's explanation as to what was going on.

"_Lyric... can you find Mewtwo?"_

"_I'm searching, Alvar..."_

She zoomed across the city in her mind's eye, while only moving at a crawl over Vermillion. She got to the church and scanned the area, but Mewtwo's aura was not there. She continued on until she reached a small forest with a lake centered in the middle. She couldn't feel Mewtwo's presence there either. _Hopefully, _she thought_, I will recognize Mewtwo's aura immediately._

Expanding her search to a greater extent, she pushed her soul outward in the metaphysical city, her lavender aura washing over everything. She continued searching everywhere until she felt she could not expand her aura any farther into the depths of the city.

Just before she was about to withdraw her aura in mental exhaustion, she felt something familiar.

_It's him..._

She could feel Mewtwo's blazing, amethyst aura only a mile away from her current location. She felt his warmth and could have sworn that she even smelled his familiar scent as she explored the lone aura.

Breaking out of her meditation and returning to the real world, not far from the skyscraper they had just recently departed from, Lyric shouted out, "_Mewtwo! I found Mewtwo!"_

Alvar didn't even get a chance to speak as the wind was almost knocked out of him from a rapid acceleration. Lyric and Alvar were now zooming through the Vermillion sky, heading towards Mewtwo.

:::::::

The door to the roof burst open and a dozen Rockets poured out like ants, most of them with their guns leveled.

Giovanni walked out and looked around. They were on the roof of a very large skyscraper, perhaps the biggest in the city. There were structures and walls dotting the roof, so visibility was not very good at all. The fact that the sun had fallen behind the horizon to the point that only a sliver of light remained only added to this. It was the perfect time and place for a damned clone to hide.

"Watch the sky! Make sure it doesn't try to jump off!"

Giovanni and his team of Rockets had tracked the clone all the way up to their current position. It had at first fled to a forest on the outskirts of Vermillion, but just as the Rockets were about to close in on its location, it fled again, this time heading deeper into the city. It almost acted like it wanted to be found, since a skyscraper was not an ideal hiding place.

The Rocket team had spread out across the massive roof and was now searching for the clone. Giovanni remained stationery and called out; he knew the clone was hiding somewhere on the roof.

"Have you finally realized that running is useless? We will always know where you are, so you might as well give yourself up now and save me the trouble of hunting you down!"

High up on the spire of the skyscraper, a cloaked Mewtwo was nimbly hanging over the Rockets. His amethyst eyes narrowed as he watched them spread across the area of the roof. He was carefully and methodically planning a method in which he could attack Giovanni, without compromising his safety. Because of this, he didn't notice another clone rapidly approaching from behind, with a certain Skitty trailing her.

:::::::

As Lyric and Alvar approached their destination, Lyric performed a quick sweep of the large skyscraper. Mewtwo was most definitely still here, and her aural sweep confirmed that. He was floating directly above the building.

_Or, hanging off of that spire, cloaked, _she thought.

Additionally, she sensed the auras of many humans, scattered across the building. Assuming that it was Team Rocket, she began to find a way on to the skyscraper without being seen.

"_Is that Team Rocket?" _Alvar whispered behind her as they slowed to a stop, still a ways to go from the destined building.

"_I think it is, and Mewtwo's on that roof. We need to find a way on there with out being seen._"

Lyric hovered around the building until she saw a spot closed off by walls from the rest of the roof that wasn't being guarded by any grunts. Alvar spotted the area as well, and pointed it out to the female clone.

She quickly made her way towards the secluded area, making sure that she couldn't be seen in the process. This was successful, mainly because all the walls were jutting out on the roof. This blocked any line of sight the Rockets could have with the two.

Silently, the pair landed on the roof. There was a pole extending upwards to the right of the area, and to the left was a corner. This corner was keeping the two out of sight from the other Rockets. The area was at a slightly higher elevation than the rest of the roof, but since the surrounding walls were so high, Lyric and Alvar could not see any of the other grunts.

A few moments after they had collected themselves, Giovanni began speaking aloud once again, looking around periodically to see if the clone would show its face. The grunts surrounding him had positioned themselves and were now listening, waiting for orders.

"If you give yourself up, we won't kill you, _Mewtwo._In fact, I won't even punish you. You can continue the life that you abandoned when you left for Mt. Quena. You can have a comfortable place to live and a place to sleep, nourishment... I'll even give you a promotion and start you on a paycheck if that will satisfy your needs. It's certainly better than the life you have created for yourself now."

Lyric walked over to the corner of the wall and peeked around cautiously. A short distance away, there was a grunt, but his attention was on Giovanni, who Lyric could see was in the center of the roof, surrounded by a few grunts and a scientist dressed in a white lab coat. She continued gazing carefully from behind the corner as she heard Giovanni continue.

"I'm being generous, Mewtwo. After what you did back at New Island, killing hundreds of scientists and nearly me in the process, I should have you slaughtered for the monster you are. But look at me. I'm offering you a paradise if you will only compromise with me. We both get what we want, and everyone is happy."

Lyric was taken aback by this statement.

_Killing... hundreds of scientists? But Mewtwo said that he had never killed anything, let alone anyone..._ _Did Mewtwo lie to me?_

Giovanni's statement seemed to have the same effect on Alvar. The kitten unconsciously and very slowly took a few steps backwards as he pictured the impossible image of Mewtwo killing hundreds of humans. Not watching where he was stepping, the kitten accidentally backed into an empty paint can making a loud, clanging noise in the process.

The noise interrupted the silence that had settled over the area, reverberating eerily through the night air. The nearby grunt responded immediately, walking over to the place the sound originated.

Lyric silently panicked and she ducked back behind the corner before the man could see her.

_We only have a few seconds..._  
She looked at Alvar, who managed a few quiet last words. His eyes were clouding, but he managed a faint smile; "_Don't worry, Lyric."_

Immediately after uttering the words, the Skitty jumped out from behind the corner and ran at the man, making him stop and jump back, obviously startled.

_NO!_

It was too late. The grunt had seen Alvar, and as the kitten skidded to a stop in front of the man, they were both struck by indecision.

This only lasted a moment, and the man acted quickly and grabbed Alvar by the tail. The kitten let out a sharp cry as the grunt did so, and winced as he was yanked up into the air, dangling from his sensitive appendage.

Lyric watched in horror as Alvar managed to position himself so he could get a final glance at her before the man twisted him around in mid-air.

The grunt walked back towards his original position, still holding Alvar by the tail. Alvar, who was now attempting to swipe at the man, was mewling and grunting. This seemed to amuse the man, and he looked up as he heard Giovanni call to him.

"What was that noise?"

"It's only a black cat sir," the grunt replied holding the kitten up so Giovanni could see, "What do you want me to do with it?"

Giovanni smiled, his eyes hardening as he saw the Skitty, immediately recognizing it.

"So you brought friends, eh Mewtwo?"

Giovanni looked around again, trying to find the elusive clone, but he knew that his attempts were futile.  
"Capture the kitten for now. I might be able to use it later if things come to that..."

The grunt replied with a "Yes, sir," and reached into his pocket, pulling out an Ultra Ball, all the while dodging the Skitty's incessant swipes. Alvar, who was getting sick of being held upside-down, continued in vain.

"_Let go of me! Let me go!"_

The grunt dropped Alvar, as well as the Ultra Ball on the ground, and before the kitten could run away, the ball opened, and a wave of red enveloped the Skitty. Alvar let out a weak cry as the red light sucked him in, and the ball snapped shut, only wiggling a few times before locking in place.

Giovanni was still staring at the Ultra Ball, however.

"Did that Skitty just use telepathy...?"

The grunt stared back at Giovanni, wondering if he was actually supposed to answer the question. Giovanni then turned to Robert, the scientist who had been standing next to him the entire time.

"Robert! Didn't I tell you to turn the goddamn Psychic Blocker on! That Skitty shouldn't be able to use telepathy if that thing was working!"

Robert looked embarrassed and quickly fumbled in his pockets, grabbing a small device and flipping it on.

"Sorry Giovanni... I, uh... forgot..."

Lyric's attention was drawn to Robert, a man who she had not examined yet. As the scientist fumbled with the device, Lyric furrowed her brow.

_That man looks familiar... Why does he-_

She froze in realization.

_No that can't be possible... There is no way..._

But as she scrutinized him further, seeing the scientist's old, slightly less wrinkled, now-shaven face only confirmed her realization.

It was the old man.

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End of Chapter 31

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I'd like to ask if anyone saw that coming, but there's more twists yet to be revealed. The next chapter will blow all of your minds.

If everything goes as planned, there will be one more chapter after this, and then the Epilogue. I'm really hoping I haven't left any glaringly obvious plot holes; I'm guessing I haven't since no one has mentioned anything yet, but if anyone sees something, don't hesitate to PM me!

I'd like to thank **Rediamond **and **Darkraifan462 **for reviewing the last chapter and **Indigo Crescent **for beta-reading this chapter! You are all the best!

Also, I just passed 10,000 hits! When I started this story, I never thought I would make it past 100. Thank you all for continuing to read this story, and hopefully the last chapters will not let you all down.

-shiny


	32. Chapter 32: Beginning of the End Part II

This is it... the last chapter. Everything comes to a close here and everything is explained. Enjoy the epic climax of Lines in the Sand!

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 32: The Beginning of the End – Part I

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**Previously: **

Not knowing how to deal with Mewtwo's disappearance, Lyric desperately searched for Mewtwo, but in vain. She didn't know where he could be. After her emotions got the better of her, she and Alvar put their heads together and successfully figured out why Mewtwo left in the first place: to protect them from Team Rocket. Lyric amazingly performed an aural scan of the city and found Mewtwo's location soon after. Meanwhile, Mewtwo was chased onto the top of a skyscraper by Giovanni, Robert, and his grunts. Cloaking himself, the clone hid from sight as the Rocket boss bargained with him to give himself up. Lyric arrived at the skyscraper, and after some bad luck, Alvar was captured by one of the grunts. Lyric remained safely hidden. Giovanni, after hearing Alvar use telepathy, realized that the psychic blocker that Robert had brought along was not activated, and told him to do so, leaving Mewtwo unexpectedly powerless. With the attention drawn to the forgetful scientist, Lyric saw him and realized that he was the human she had lived with so long ago: the old man.

:::::::

The old man...

_How... could it be...?_

Nothing made any sense. There were too many things making this an impossibility.

_How could he be the old man? ...He can't be..._

Lyric's amethyst eyes gazed in absolute shock at the 'scientist' standing at the center of the skyscraper, her pupils widening to their maximum diameter. Alvar and Mewtwo were temporarily forgotten as the 'old man,' a living paradox, shoved the psychic blocking device back in his pocket.

_Psychic blocking device..._ _Mewtwo..._

She broke her gaze with Robert and looked toward the sky, now dark, as the sun was almost completely covered by the horizon. Sure enough, she just barely saw a glint; a flash of color—It was Mewtwo's uncloaked eyes reflecting what little light there was left.

_He can't use his psychic powers..._  
All thought processes were cut short as a cold hand grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her backward into the darkness.

:::::::

As his body involuntarily uncloaked, Mewtwo's mind raced.

He could feel the pulses of energy completely repressing his powers emanating from below. A psychic blocker... Why hadn't he known about this! Now his most powerful abilities could not be used against the Rockets. The clone may be physically strong—stronger than most Pokemon in fact—but against this many foes?

Thankfully, none of the Rockets spotted him hanging on the spire even uncloaked, since he was so high up and considering the skies were almost black, only lit by the lights of the city far below. He still had the element of surprise... He could win this fight with strategy... and maybe some luck.

_Perhaps I should flee and wait for an optimal time to strike..._

But no; this moment was as opportune as any other that could occur in the near future. It was probably better, seeing as the psychic blocker was delayed in its activation. Why wait and let the Rockets get stronger, most likely increasing the danger that they were all in?

_Lyric and Alvar..._

Alvar was captured, which most likely meant Lyric had followed him here as well. Looking around, he couldn't see her through the darkness, so he guessed she was hiding somewhere.

Shaking his head free of the thought, his eyes hardened as he peered down at the searching Rockets.

"He should be uncloaked now... Where is he?" Robert exclaimed as his eyes darted around the skyscraper frantically.

"We need to get ready for it to attack," Giovanni added. "Stop looking for it and prepare yourselves!"

The last line was shouted so every grunt could hear. After a few seconds, the sound of rustling clothes was heard as the grunts ceased what they were doing to pull out their Pokeballs, their thumbs tentatively resting on the small, white button in the center.

Mewtwo took that short distraction as a prompt to act.

With amazing speed, the clone launched himself from the spire, swooping down and crashing into an unfortunate grunt, who was still fumbling with his Pokeballs, sending him sprawling hard into the concrete. Using the human's body as a cushion, he rolled out of the fall and immediately leapt forward into another unsuspecting grunt, not giving him a chance to release a Pokemon. Upon contact, the second grunt was sent flying into a wall.

Giovanni, seeing this, immediately ordered, "Quickly! Release the Pokemon and incapacitate that thing!"

The surrounding grunts had already begun to act, and almost instantaneously, Mewtwo was surrounded by the red glow of opening Pokeballs. A Scyther was the first to act, throwing itself forward, wielding its blades and hissing. Mewtwo dodged two quick swipes and caught the Scyther's arm on the third one. Taking special care not to come in contact with the blade, Mewtwo swung the arm over his head, sending the Scyther through the air. Still holding on to the arm, he slammed the bug Pokemon into the ground, ignoring its cry of anguish and immediately stepped on its arm, while at the same time twisting it, causing the exoskeleton to snap with a sickening 'crunch.'

The split-second after he dropped the limp arm of the Scyther, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, like the cutting of a knife. When he immediately jerked his head to see who or what the attacker was, he saw that a Murkrow had gripped his body with its talons and ripped into his flesh. The dark energy interlaced with the wound increased the pain and made Mewtwo stumble back a few steps, swatting the air fruitlessly with a paw as the Murkrow circled around him like a vulture.  
Relying only on an instinctual whim, the clone spun around and dove to the side, just barely avoiding a sphere of dark energy launched from an Umbreon hidden in the shadows to Mewtwo's right. Rolling out of the dive, Mewtwo rapidly advanced towards the Umbreon, intent upon bringing the fox down before it could land a potentially devastating strike. The dark Pokemon didn't back down, and sent another sphere of elemental energy hurtling towards Mewtwo. The clone rolled under this attack, and grabbed the Umbreon's small body. He quickly threw it directly at another advancing Pokemon, sending the two attackers tumbling. The clone jumped out of the way as that Pokemon crunched into the wall behind him. He then winced, his shoulder burned from unwanted use as he began to plan his next move.

Mewtwo leapt a great distance into the air, and after noting an increasing number of Pokemon attempting to surround him in a haphazardly formed circle, he grabbed onto a coil strung between two of the overhangs on the roof. Performing a single flip around the coil and nearly slipping off because of his three knobby fingers, he used the momentum to launch himself over the confused Pokemon scrambling to react just below him. Landing on his feet in a dead sprint and putting distance between him and the circle of Pokemon, he aimed towards his target only a dozen steps ahead: Giovanni. The Rocket boss, seeing what was happening, started fumbling with something at his waistline.

Before Mewtwo could reach Giovanni, a nearby grunt stepped in front of the Rocket Boss and unleashed a Pokeball. A Shiftry emerged—a Dark/Grass type Pokemon.

Expecting the charging clone to stop and engage in battle, the grunt reached for another Pokeball, not bothering to move out of the way. Instead, Mewtwo lowered his head and poured on the speed, his body beginning to glow orange. It was the beginning of an attack he had learned long ago, when he was still in the captivity of Giovanni.

The Shiftry didn't have time to react as the clone smashed into its leafy body. While more than half of its leaves immediately incinerated from the deadly Flame Charge, a few of the sharp leaves cut into Mewtwo's hard skin as he collided with the Pokemon. The unexpected pain caused the clone to flinch as he felt the dark energy seep into his body.

The Shiftry was immediately knocked unconscious and thrown to the side as Mewtwo decelerated and began searching for Giovanni. The owner of the now badly injured Shiftry had jumped aside, but Giovanni was nowhere to be seen.

Trying to keep his composure, Mewtwo searched all directions, slowing to a stop. There were half a dozen Pokemon only a few seconds behind, barreling down on his location. _Where could Giovanni possibly have gone?_

A Mightyena raced in front of the approaching pack and leapt at Mewtwo. The clone ducked under it, and as the dog Pokemon soared over, Mewtwo thrust up with his legs and bowed his head, resulting in his bony back colliding with the dog in its sensitive underbelly. The devastating impact sent it yelping onto the cement after flying through the air.

Mewtwo suddenly heard a gunshot, and was sent into shock as he felt an explosion of pain in his right leg. A bullet had entered and exited the back of his thigh, ripping meat and muscle, but graciously missing bone. While the entry wound was simply a clean hole, only slightly oozing blood, the exit wound had torn a horrendous chunk out of him and was leaking the red liquid profusely. As he collapsed to the floor, he blurrily saw Giovanni step out of the shadows, his evil grin still recognizable through the haze. A rumbling in the floor cut the clone's writhing in pain short. He forced his body to roll to the side, narrowly dodging a rampaging Rhydon. Due to the incredible amount of momentum it had already built, the Rhydon couldn't stop and ended up crashing into a wall, trampling over the Mightyena in the process. The already battered canine was killed instantly, its bones crushed into powder from the immense mass of the great rhino.

:::::::

Struggling to escape the grasp she was now held in, Lyric attempted to cry out in telepathy, but it was a fruitless resort, as she could still feel the suppressive force of the psychic blocker. She was powerless against this unknown assailant.

After what felt like a fearful eternity, the arms encircling her slackened, to which she immediately reacted, whirling around and tensing her body in preparation to combat the threat if necessary. The attacker was veiled in shadows, its face obscured due to the downward tilted head, as well as a low pulled hood, which served to conceal the figure's eyes from Lyric's scrutiny. Lyric narrowed her eyes and began to raise her arms into a defensive posture, but paused when the figure also raised its hands in a nonthreatening gesture and spoke:

"Please do not be afraid of me... Lyric..."

Confused at the utterance of her name, she slowly lowered her arms. As she did this, the figure stepped out of the shadows, pulling back the hood.

Nothing could have prepared Lyric for what she saw next.

As his face was illuminated, his eyes sparkled silver. The wrinkles on his face deepened as he gave her a warm smile. Lyric's eyes trailed over his face, her gaze moving down to his ivory beard in complete astonishment.

It was the old man. The _real_ old man.

The look of astonishment on Lyric's face soon transformed to one of horror as she tried and failed to comprehend what was going on. Her mind reeled as she came to her conclusion: there was no denying it; his face was identical.

_How...? What...?_

The old man's smile faded as she began to very slowly back away in disbelief.

"I only want to help you, Lyric. I mean you no harm."

She stopped backing up.

_This can't be real..._

But she was already in denial when she found out Robert was the old man.

_Could... It be some kind of trick? …Team Rocket?_

Her eyes followed the wrinkled hand of the man who cared for her as it moved towards a pocket. The old man grabbed something from his cloak and slowly pulled it out, making sure not to startle the female clone. She wasn't moving, probably paralyzed with fear or shock.

It was a small, round object. It was hard to see due to the fact that it was very dark. The old man carefully bent over and placed the object on the ground, pressing a button on it as he did so.

Lyric gaped in awe, speechless as a bubble of a nearly transparent substance surrounded the two. It was a film of some kind; some sort of energy.

"_What is this...?"_

Realizing she had just used telepathy only shocked her further. She looked to the old man for answers. Luckily, he provided them.

"Lyric, this is a field that will block any signal or energy. I have been watching Team Rocket, and I was aware that they would bring that psychic blocker with them."

His voice was warm and caring, but was old, withered, and tinged with traces of sadness as well.

_But, the old man... couldn't even talk!_

Trying to snap out of her daze, Lyric pressed the balls of her fingers against her forehead and clenched her eyes shut.

"_How...?"_

The old man responded, "Very good question, and I haven't a clue. I'm not the scientist... that would be my brother."

Lyric looked up.

"_Your... brother?"_

"He gave me the device a while back."

Her haze fading, she spoke, thinking back to when she saw Robert, "_You two are brothers?"_

"Yes we are; in fact, we are identical. Robert is exactly who he says he is: a Pokemon collector and a brilliant scientist and inventor. Me, on the other hand-"

He was cut off by a strong cough. He covered his mouth with his hand as he continued coughing.

As soon as the coughing ceased, Lyric asked, "_But... how are you...?"_

Understanding her confusion, the old man raised a hand, signaling that there was no need for her to go on.

"I understand you have many questions..." He paused, suppressing another cough, "...but we don't have much time..."

Crashes and clattering were heard all around, and it was the first time Lyric noticed them. Mewtwo was fighting with Team Rocket.

_Mewtwo..._

"I am going to explain everything to the best of my ability, so please listen to me carefully."

Lyric slowly nodded her head.

He took in a deep breath, his next actions running through his mind.

"I worked for Team Rocket long ago, Lyric. I was working on studying Technical Machines."

Lyric didn't react to the information, so the old man continued, "I had a daughter. She worked as a scientist for Team Rocket, studying the process of cloning. She was so brilliant..."

He paused, closing his eyes, recalling the next part of the story with grief, "She was working on a project... A project to clone Mew, the rarest Pokemon on earth."

Lyric's eyes widened as she realized where this story was going.

"Giovanni..." He paused, an aura of hate mixing in with his sorrow, "Giovanni ordered to get rid of one of the clones. To murder it. To murder _you_, Lyric. My daughter hid you from them, and raised you in secret. She never told me any of this... I eventually read my daughter's diary, but by then it was much too late."

He was near breaking down at this point. Lyric stood there in the translucent bubble, listening with dread as the story of her history unfolded.

"If only we had a better relationship... I could have stopped this all..."

He took in another deep breath and opened his mouth in preparation to continue speaking, but was interrupted by a loud crash, reminding him they were short on time. After a quick glance in the direction of the commotion, he continued.

"Giovanni found out about it somehow. He fired me the moment he suspected her, knowing that it was my daughter he was planning to kill. I became homeless, since I didn't have a place to stay anymore. At the time, I made home next to the headquarters, trying to figure out why he fired me. I later realized Giovanni wanted to set an example of what happened when someone disobeyed. So he killed her. He killed my daughter..."

A crystal tear fell from Lyric's eye as she recounted the grave circumstances of her first few minutes of life. She knew the story from here.

"I'm guessing he was going to kill you, but you stopped him, and erased his memory. When you found me—when I saved you from those thugs—I still didn't know he had killed my daughter. I saw his gun and the blood a day later and I knew he did it. I was so distraught with my daughter's death that I didn't put together the pieces of the puzzle then. I forgot about _you . _I didn't even show my sadness to you... I didn't want to upset you. I forgot what my daughter once told me. I thought you were just a gift from the heavens, sent to ease my loneliness and agony."

He heavily sighed, and with the tough part of the story finally over, he noticeably increased the confidence of his posture and continued speaking.

"I wanted vengeance. I got in touch with a colleague of mine, in the same field of study."

He paused, remembering something else, "Lyric, do you know who Dr. Fuji is?"

When she shook her head, he continued, "He was the leader of the Mewtwo project. He lost a daughter too... but he tried to do something about it. He tried to clone her... and I admired him for it. With him as inspiration, my colleagues and I worked on creating a new TM. A completely unique TM. The materials were expensive, but I was able to steal some equipment from Team Rocket. With it, I thought I could save my daughter..."

Stopping, he looked mournfully at Lyric.

"Before I continue, I just want to say how sorry I am. I don't expect you to forgive me... You just have to know..."

"_Know what?"_

The old man bowed his head in shame. Just as he was about to continue, Lyric spoke up, remembering something, "_You put something in my food... that one day. What did you put in my food? Why...?"_

This time, it was the old man's turn to be surprised. He gaped at her in shock.

"How... do you know about that? Did you... see me do it?"

Lyric shook her head, "_I had a vision..."_

With a confused look, the old man repeated, "A vision...?

Looking down, the old man started, "That could mean..." but he didn't finish the thought.

They kept the silence for a few more moments until a loud gunshot jolted them out of it.

"The first TM we made, I used you to test it on. I couldn't have just used it on myself without testing it... so I used you as a guinea pig... I'm sorry, Lyric... I was so selfish..."

Lyric gritted her teeth and shook her head in a mixture of disappointment and shock. The one human that had ever cared for her... he had been using her the entire time.

He continued, "There was no change in your powers, so we assumed that it didn't work. We scrapped the idea, and started on a new one... One that my colleague and I thought would definitely work. In the meantime, I tried some other ways to get back at Giovanni, but I soon realized that killing him wouldn't be enough for me... as horrible as that sounds..."

"_How can you talk? You never talked when I lived with you."_

Surprised that she had changed the subject so quickly, he answered her, "I learned from my education that it is much easier to gain trust with someone if you are at the same level as them. In your case, speaking would have made me the dominant one..."

Barely finishing his statement, he broke out in another fit of coughs, this one worse than the last. He doubled over, making it obvious that he was in terrible pain, but the fit eventually ceased and he regained his senses.

Shutting her eyes in sadness at his deception, she continued, "_Why did you leave me? Why did you abandon me?"_

The old man looked down again. "I... I'm so sorry..."

She looked at him, her eyes welling up. "_I thought you cared for me..."_

"We were so close to finishing the new version of the TM... The scientific community will be changed forever once they discover what we've created..."

"_But... what is it?"_

He reached down and deactivated the device that was creating the bubble around them. The clear, liquid-like substance shimmered for a few moments, and then seemed to implode on itself, disappearing instantaneously.

"Again, I don't expect you to forgive me, but I truly hope that what I'm about to do can make up for what I did to you. I do care about you, Lyric."

And with that, it began.

It started at his feet. They slowly turned a very light gray and began changing in shape. His feet elongated and his toes melded together. The transformation continued up his body. He let the cloak fall to the floor as she saw his midriff turning purple, and a long tail growing from his backside. His fingers compacted and balls formed on his three finger tips. A long, thin tube sprouted from the base of his gray neck and connected to his skull.

She looked directly in 'his' amethyst eyes, almost dropping to her knees in shock.

The old man had transformed into an exact copy of _her._

"_No..."_

As the transformation completed, the old man, who had taken the form of a female Mewtwo, backed into the shadows and ran past Lyric.

Lyric did not stop him.

The female clone rushed to follow the copy of herself, but could not go too far, as there were still members of Team Rocket nearby. Lyric watched in horror as her doppelganger crept up behind a Rocket grunt and knocked him unconscious with a strong blow to the head. She saw as the old man eyed his next target: Robert, his own brother. The scientist was watching the ongoing battle with a mix of shock and horror and was completely oblivious to his surroundings. She watched as the old man came up behind him Robert and paused for a moment before knocking him unconscious as well. After the scientist fell to the ground, the old man went through his brother's pockets. Finding the psychic blocker, he threw it on the ground and stomped on it, resulting in a satisfying crunch. Instantly, Lyric could feel her psychic powers returning to her.

The old man continued going through his brother's pockets and found Alvar's Pokeball as well as the tracking device. He, or rather 'she' turned to face Lyric and made sure she the latter was watching. Once they made eye contact, he rolled the small ball towards her. Lyric saw the strange markings on the ball signifying that it was from the Orre region as the ball clattered across the roof. It came to a stop as Lyric's feet blocked its path, and She snatched the ball off the cement, thanking the heavens that Alvar would be safe.

The old man dropped the tracking device on the floor and smashed it with his heel, similar to the way the psychic blocker was destroyed. He then looked to see if he could spot Mewtwo. As he did spot him, his mouth dropped in shock. Lyric could not see what the old man was seeing, so when she watched him sprint towards whatever was being stared at, she ran after him. She had to see what was happening...

She would later wish that she hadn't.

:::::::

_Minutes earlier_

:::::::

Shakily, but quickly getting on his feet, Mewtwo jumped away from the horn of the Rhydon as it attempted to charge him again, recovering quickly from its impact with the wall. The rampaging Pokemon once again could not stop, and collided with a Rocket grunt. The human screamed in agony as he was crushed beneath the Pokemon's hard feet.

The clone winced in pain as he put weight on his injured leg, but he pushed through it, knowing giving up right now would be fatal. More and more Pokemon poured out of the shadows, and he battled them, sometimes one on one, sometimes against two of them, as they formed a deadly ring around him. The grunts' commands were drowned out in the roaring of all the Pokemon on the skyscraper.

The dark Pokemon caused Mewtwo the most trouble. A hit from a normal Pokemon was tolerable, but just one hit from any of the accursed dark Pokemon sent his limbs into spasms from sheer pain. The clone continued fighting, swiping a Houndoom that tried to sneak up from behind with his tail, sending it sprawling unconscious. Immediately afterward, Mewtwo barely ducked under a Honchcrow's talons. Showing incredible agility for his already weakened body, he whipped out a tri-fingered paw and managed to grasp the dark bird by it's legs, stopping it mid-flight. It let out a sickening screech as it was pulled out of the air and bashed into the skull of another Pokemon, knocking the two of them out.

Giovanni, watching the fight from behind the circle, scowled at the sight of all the grunts' Pokemon being defeated.

"It's time to end this..." The boss of Team Rocket growled in a deep, guttural voice.

Shoving aside an Absol as it attempted get inside the circle, he grabbed a black Pokeball from his belt and threw it directly in front of the battling clone. As the ball opened and spewed red light into the air, some of the Pokemon stopped and looked to see what it was. Mewtwo readied himself for whatever it could be as well, after finishing off a few other Pokemon.

The circle scattered as the Pokemon saw what formed out of Giovanni's Pokeball. Mewtwo's eyes narrowed as the great beast appeared directly in front of him.

The Hydreigon threw its head back and roared a high-pitched, intimidating scream. The mouths on its hands opened in sync with it's maw in preparation for battle.

It quieted and launched itself off the ground, using its' six wings to hover menacingly over the clone, readying an attack.

A Hydreigon... Mewtwo had heard of these great, dark dragons before. To a psychic being such as himself, these beasts were very dangerous. The blue, purple, and black Pokemon could most likely paralyze or even kill the clone with one crunch of those deadly jaws. He would have to be very careful.

The area lapsed into silence as Giovanni stepped beside the Hydreigon. The Pokemon that were uninjured or still able to stand positioned themselves around the borders, watching.

"I had this one imported from Unova for this exact circumstance. In your current state, you are no match for it."

The Rocket boss glanced at the clone. Mewtwo was gasping for breath from his exertions as well as shock. He was growing weaker and his leg, along with many other various locations, leaked blood, slowly sapping his strength. There was a wide gash across the clone's midriff and it was bleeding profusely as well.

"Give up Mewtwo. My offer still stands. Live your life comfortably, doing what _your creator_ wants, or stop living your life. It's all up to you."

Giovanni had to speak with a raised voice in order to make himself heard over the concussive waves of sound being produced by the Hydregion's multiple wings. He watched in amusement as Mewtwo glared back at him, readying a battle position.

The Hydreigon took this act as a challenge, and let out a cry as it dove forward with incredible agility. Mewtwo wasn't expecting the speed of the dragon, and its body slammed into him hard, sending him flying backwards. The clone quickly regained his bearings and rolled into a backward somersault, landing on his feet in a catlike manner as the maneuver finished.

The beast charged forward at him once again, expecting Mewtwo to retreat backwards, but was caught off guard as the clone thrust forwards with his arm, hitting it directly in the chest. The unexpected blow stopped the flight of the Hydreigon, and it was knocked backwards due to the sheer power of the punch. Screeching at the pain in its rib, most likely fractured or broken, it retreated and began flying in wide circles over the clone.

The dragon didn't give Mewtwo any more time to rest as it swooped by and attempted to collide with the clone once again. The clone spun around and tried smacking his muscular tail against the creature, but it snatched the appendage in one of its hands, the sharp fangs digging into the clone's sensitive skin and releasing dark energy.

Mewtwo winced in pain and tried to tug away, but the puppet-like hand was not letting go. The Hydreigon roared and swung the tail forward, sending it, along with Mewtwo, flying through the air, only to crash directly into a solid wall.

His body sunk to the floor like a slab of meat, the dark energy still surging through his veins, causing unrelenting pain. Mewtwo's will immediately told him to get up, but as he lifted himself off of the cement and attempted to stand before the dragon could reach him again, his weakened leg collapsed and refused to work properly.

Before he could make another attempt to stand, Mewtwo strangely felt the suppressive psychic barrier fall away from his mind. He felt his psychic powers arise once more in his consciousness.

_How... Was it Lyric?_

The momentary distraction was not with out a price, and as the massive dark dragon landed directly in front of the clone, Mewtwo scrambled to ready himself for the attack.

But it was too late.

Grabbing the clone by the arm, the beast beat its wings furiously and launched itself into the air once again. The clone's arm was viciously ripped out of its socket as a result of the force, and he screamed in agony as he was pulled into the air by his now dislocated arm. The Hydreigon seemed to struggle with the clone's weight, and at first, through the blackness threatening to engulf his vision, he thought the dragon would fly over the edge of the skyscraper and drop him. He didn't know if he still had the strength to levitate, but maybe...

The beast dropped him just before the edge, and a last spike of pain zapped Mewtwo as his injured body hit the ground. He attempted a Recover to ease the excruciating, perpetual agony, but his weakness made the ability almost ineffective. If only he could have used his psychic abilities sooner...

When he heard footsteps, the clone barely managed to raise his head. Giovanni was approaching the clone, a sadistically amused smirk across his face. The Rocket boss calmly recalled the Hydreigon and looked down at the body of Mewtwo, who was nearly torn apart.

"This is your last chance, Mewtwo. Live, or die. You can't escape and go back to your old life. If you choose to come back with me... I may spare the other of your pathetic species. If you choose death..."

They made eye-contact, "I will make sure that she suffers."

The Rocket boss waited for a response. Mewtwo's eyes shut and his body shook. Sure enough, he begun to move his limbs. Giovanni watched in shock as the clone attempted to get up again, his legs nearly giving way as he struggled up on to them, but somehow, he persevered.

It was completely silent on the skyscraper as all watched the clone get to his feet, slowly but surely. Mewtwo sent small Recovers through his body, blocking out all the pain and focusing his mind.

Eye to eye, Mewtwo now glared at Giovanni. The clone stiffened his back, his amethyst eyes cold and unforgiving. His pupils darkened into narrow slits.

"_You will never be rid of me, Giovanni."_

The Rocket leader scowled in confusion and annoyance at his use of telepathy. Grabbing his gun, he swung it and pointed it directly at Mewtwo's forehead.

"I win."

As Mewtwo heard Giovanni's intended last words to him, he looked past the Rocket boss for only a moment. His eyes widened and his pupils further dilated as he saw a figure back in the shadows on the other side of the skyscraper. It was Lyric.

She was on her knees, and she was about to see him, the one whom she loved, and the one who loved her back, die.

Just before his finger squeezed on the trigger, a figure slammed into the clone from the right and sent him sprawling to the ground. Giovanni was unable to change his aim, and the firing pin struck the casing, igniting the powder and sending the bullet exploding out of the barrel and into the figure that had pushed the clone out of the way.

In horror, Giovanni saw who the figure was that had taken the bullet for Mewtwo. It was the female clone.

As she was knocked backwards, her face bore a shocked expression as she fell off the building. Giovanni rushed forward to watch the clone fall, and managed to see her disappear into the darkness below.

:::::::

As he fell through the air, the old man closed his eyes, and could feel his life drift away from him. Once his life was his extinguished, his body slowly transformed back into his human form, completing just before hitting the ground.

:::::::

Giovanni couldn't bring himself to smile as he stared down into the abyss of darkness; the abyss that the female clone of Mew had just perished in. Finally, remembering his original target, he turned to aim his gun at the male clone, but there was nothing. Mewtwo had disappeared.

Was he cloaked? Had he teleported? It didn't matter. Without serious medical attention, the clone would die of blood loss in a matter of hours, if not minutes. The female, the only other being who could save the clone, was no more.

Mewtwo was as good as dead.

Giovanni spun around, looking to see what the other members of Team Rocket were doing. He saw a few recalling their injured Pokemon, while others were standing silent, perhaps shocked after seeing the recent events unfold.

Giovanni casually approached a Rocket, and asked, "Did you see where the clone went after I shot the female?"

The grunt didn't meet Giovanni's eyes as he replied. "The clone disappeared sir. Right after the female fell off the building."

Nodding, the Rocket boss looked up at the dark sky. He was disappointed that the clones had to be killed, but the chances of them coming back to the Rocket headquarters and working for him were almost nonexistent. Without the female, Mewtwo would fight to the death. Giovanni saw it in his eyes.

"Well, it looks like our work here is done."

:::::::

Floating through the air just below the skyscraper he had just pushed himself off of, Mewtwo struggled to maintain his levitation. He made a desperate prayer that Giovanni couldn't see the blood still dripping off of his cloaked body. His cloaking wavered, and then failed completely.

His mind was still trying to accept what had just happened. Through the pain and complete exhaustion, it was almost impossible to create coherent thoughts.

_That was... Lyric... Lyric was shot..._

But hadn't he seen Lyric back on the other side of the skyscraper? Had she teleported somehow?

_I saw Lyric falling... It had to have been her..._

At that point his levitation failed him, his psychical and physical strength completely depleted. He plummeted for fifteen feet before smashing into the roof of a shorter building adjacent to the skyscraper with a resounding crash.

His devastating landing put too much stress on the framework of his body, and several of his bones snapped, unable to handle the forces of his collision. Somehow he maintained consciousness as pain wracked his body. He lifted a shaky hand and tried supporting some of his weight on it so he could roll on to his back. Doing so sent indescribable amounts of agony through his system and he shouted out in pain, but finally, with a grunt, he collapsed on to his back and looked up at the stars above.

Mewtwo was about to close his eyes and let the darkness finally overtake him when he saw something in the skies, to the right of his vision.

It was an angel.

The angel was a speck at first, blending into the night, but as she drew closer, her features became clearer.

Mewtwo kept his weary eyes fixed on the angel as it came closer and descended upon him, and finally landed on the building next to him.

The angel rushed towards his broken body and stopped when she saw the state the clone was in. Waiting a moment, she set something down by his side and reached a hand out towards him, touching him.

As Mewtwo felt the angel's soft fingertips, he also felt a cool, healing sensation wash through his body. He could feel his wounds closing and his bones mending. The coolness surrounded him, gently gracing over his skin, creating a warm, tingling feeling wherever it went.

As the angel healed him, Mewtwo heard a soft voice in his head. The voice was sad, but at the same time it was heavenly.

"_Mewtwo..."_

The last thing the clone felt before falling into unconsciousness was Lyric's lips against his own, her body caressing his tenderly before he submitted to the blackness.

:::::::

_One day later_

:::::::

As the wind blew gently through the cave entrance, Lyric inhaled a breath of the fresh air. It carried the fragrance of sweet flowers.

The view from inside the cave consisted of a few green trees, but since the cave was unusually high, most of the trees failed to be seen. Instead, Lyric could see the clouds above the forest much more clearly; the puffs of white were very slowly traveling across the glimmering blue sky, reflecting the beams of sunlight pushing their way through.

She exhaled and turned to look at the unconscious member of her own species. He was sprawled out on the grass bed, hopefully sleeping peacefully. His internal injuries would take some time to heal, and he would never look at life the same way again, but Mewtwo would live. _He would live!_

Finally, they were together, and they were safe.

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_End of Chapter 32_

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**Author's note: **

This feels really good to finally have written out, and I think it turned out very nicely.

I will save all my ending notes for the epilogue, which will follow this chapter soon and conclude this piece of fan fiction. I truly hope that all you readers enjoyed the climax to my story, and would really appreciate some feedback.

That's really all I have to say; once again, I am saving all my comments for the epilogue.

I would like to thank **CrossroadxOfxVesper, Anonymous, xotennisloverxo, Rediamond, StarWriterWG, **and **ShinyPokeManic **for reviewing the previous chapter and **CrossroadxOfxVesper **for beta-reading this chapter. I can't thank you all enough for your continued feedback and support. You are what made this story possible.

See you in the epilogue!

-shiny


	33. Epilogue

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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Epilogue

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**Previously:**

Mewtwo's final battle with Giovanni began. Only fighting hand-to-hand, Mewtwo took on dozens and dozens of Team Rocket's grunts and dark Pokemon. The clone somehow managed to fend them off, but only just barely, as he was injured quite severely in the process. Because of this, once Giovanni sent out his most powerful Pokemon, a Hydreigon. Mewtwo was no match for the powerful dragon Pokemon and was defeated. He was deposited at the edge of the skyscraper—a mass of broken bones and torn skin—and Giovanni could finally do whatever he wanted to the clone.

Meanwhile, Lyric was grabbed by a strange figure, who turned out to be the real old man—the scientist, Robert, was the old man's identical twin. The old man told Lyric his life story: how he once worked for Team Rocket, and when Giovanni killed his daughter and fired him, he vowed revenge on the Rocket boss. With a colleague, he continued work on a TM, with which he thought he could get that revenge. It was deemed a failure when it was tested on Lyric, to no immediate effect. Scrapping the project, they began work on another TM: Transform, which they eventually perfected and used on the old man, not bothering to check and see if it had any side effects. Using his new powers, the old man, after explaining everything to Lyric, transformed into a copy of the female clone, destroyed the tracking device and psychic blocker that Robert carried, and rescued Alvar. Seeing Mewtwo at gunpoint, the old man sacrificed himself, pushing Mewtwo out of the way and taking the bullet, falling off the skyscraper to perish.

While Giovanni was stunned, Mewtwo managed to escape, and Giovanni, knowing that he was critically injured and could not get help, did not give chase. Mewtwo's powers failed him as he tried levitating away from the skyscraper, which caused him to plummet to the ground, injuring him almost to the point of death. Lyric managed to find him and heal him before this could happen, and unknown to the Rockets, she took his unconscious body away from the city, where they would both be safe, hopefully for the rest of their lives.

(**Very long summary, as many exceedingly important events occurred in the previous chapter. If you are having trouble remembering what happened or are generally confused, I recommend that you reread the chapter.)**

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There was a short puff of smoke as the match was lit. There was no need to wake him up with a brighter light... He was still recovering and needed the sleep. Even with his natural regenerative capabilities, his recovery would still take a few more months. His injuries were much worse than anyone could have imagined... but at least there wouldn't be any permanent effects.

As the lit match was brought in contact with the wick, the candle ignited; a comforting scent of lavender rose in the warm air. The candle provided an adequate amount of illumination for what her task called for.

Knowing that sleep would not come until she was finished, she refrained from hesitating, but the memories of past events continued to float into her consciousness. Shaking her head to rid it of the thoughts, she pulled the chair back and sat down quietly, setting the burning piece of wax on the desk as she did so. After taking a drawn out look at the one she loved, lying with his tail curled up around him in what looked like a comfortable position in the corner, she took the pen in her hand and began to write:

_Hello Mewtwo,_

_I know this will be confusing to you, but please continue to read. Everything will be explained with time. For now, it is important that you follow what this message says to the letter._

_Go to the Rocket Headquarters. On the right side of the building facing north, there is an alley with a large, green dumpster in the center. Go to it. You will find me. I truly hope you will know what to do then._

_Sincerely,_

_Lyric_

Setting the pen down, she stared at the word, 'Sincerely.' All the pain, heartbreak, and sorrow of the past events overwhelmed her at that point. A solitary tear fell from her eye and landed just below her name as she took the paper in her three-fingered hand.

An eerie, blue glow enveloped the letter as she focused on it through the tears. After a few more seconds of strained concentration, the blue glow was soon mixed with a translucent red. Shutting her tear-filled eyes, she felt the building power gently climax, and shivered at the sensation of the letter escaping from her grasp as it vanished, evaporating into nothingness. The faint trace of blue and red colors strangely lingering in the empty air were not seen by her; she had curled up in a ball on the chair, still concentrating through the near overwhelming sorrow.

She kept this position for only half a minute before finally relaxing, letting her limbs fall limp at her sides. Opening her eyes at long last, she looked upwards at the darkness of the room, illuminated very slightly by faint flickers of the candle.

_Close your eyes._

Feeling exhaustion overwhelm her, she let her heavy eyelids shut.

_It is done..._

With that thought reverberating through her mind, Lyric fell asleep, letting the comforting, familiar blackness overtake her senses.

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THE END

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**Author's note:**

It's over! My first fanfiction has finally come to a conclusion. I hope you liked it.

Looking back at my first chapters, I find it almost unbelievable seeing how much I have grown as an author over this past year. It has been a very interesting, satisfying experience, and I very much enjoyed it.

In any case, I left the story open for interpretation, but at the same time it has a definite conclusion, and I rather like how it turned out. It may anger some people not knowing what exactly happens, but I find this ending very thought-provoking, and I personally love things like that. There could be a sequel, and there couldn't be... we'll just have to see.

I can see how this can be confusing as well, but I don't want to give a straightforward explanation of what happened, as that would ruin the whole point. If you still are utterly confused, just drop me a PM, and I will explain the best I can.

Hopefully you readers have thoughts and comments on the finished story, and if you do, just leave a review. I enjoy seeing what you all think.

I want to thank all the following people for their tremendous help and motivation:

_Stormrifle, GrievousGirl18, draconic skysong, Aku yoru no sakana, Pokegal, R.Y.N.O, Starwhisker Spiritclaw, Arachnautic, Amaya, Darkraifan462, renigadeblade, ShinyPokeManic, fractalman, Rediamond, Oddle, Waveripple of Team Sunrise, Indigo Crescent, BrightEmeraldRose, noface, Kira the Dead Ninja, a person, xotennisloverxo, CrossroadXofXVesper, StarwriterWG, _and _Yin-Yang Yo-Yo._

And a big, special thanks goes to:

_Indigo Crescent, CrossroadXofXVesper, _and _WiseAbsol._

Without all of you, there would have been absolutely no way I could have finished this. I cannot thank you enough for keeping me motivated and giving me constructive criticism when I most needed it.

Before I go, I just wanted to admit something. When I started this, I had no idea what to expect. It might be hard to believe, but I had none of this planned. Basically, I had planned up to the point where Lyric faints of exhaustion back at the alley. All of the things that happened in the recent chapters and how everything worked out... I really can't explain how it happened. Luck? Anyway, I'm very glad that it did work out, and I have learned my lesson.

It will be a strange feeling to finally mark 'complete' for Lines in the Sand. I really look forward to seeing how my writing endeavors pan out in the future... it will definitely be interesting.

See you soon!

Sincerely,

Shiny


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